Chapter 180: Back to the Fort
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
"This is so unlike me," the young killer's inner voice reminded himself. He had never been so careless that he had broken into an unknown place, without even knowing whether the people within were his friends or foes. Neither had he been so gullible that he had regarded every word that others had said as goodwill.
After Immortal Peng had said, "I can," Gu Shenwei immediately asked, "But, do you have some conditions?"
"There is no condition. I can dispel the Peripheral Force and guide you on your swordcraft in order to develop and promote Emotionless Swords, Murderous Swords and Fatal Swords. I only want to see the results."
Although Gu Shenwei heard a young man's voice, he somehow pictured a greedy old man in his mind. The old man seemed to be dazed yet passionate and his saliva was dripping out from his mouth. His long bony hand was slowly stretching out ...
Gu Shenwei retreated to the window. Between thirty to forty grotesque people turned to look at him, but no one stopped him.
Fear surged like spring water. The killer shouted as he jumped out of the small window. He fell onto a pile of residual snow, rolled over and got up. Then, he ran for his life.
"He will be back," a white-robed elder said coldly.
"He will be back," the Uglies repeated. Then, everyone in the room coldly repeated these words, but in completely different tones.
Gu Shenwei jumped onto the wall of Hope Alley. He met Maid Lotus soon afterwards. Both of them didn't say anything and continued to run together until they returned to the apartment, which they had rented from Southwall Tavern. Gu Shenwei took off his black mask, gasped for breath and shook his head hard. It seemed that he finally got rid of the dirty things that were attached to him. He then said, "That guy, that Immortal Peng, seemed to know about the Death Scripture."
The Death Scripture was said to be brought up from a deep abyss by a golden-crowned roc, but the disciples of Barren Sect had never heard of this story. Gu Shenwei always believed that this was a secret that would never be revealed, however Immortal Peng had seen through the killer's swordcraft.
At the moment when Gu Shenwei had thrown himself at the screen, but was blocked, he had seen something behind the screen. He didn't pay attention to it back then. He finally realized that it was a head with its hair that loosely hung down. The crown of the head could be seen.
If he didn't recognize it wrongly, it looked like Ye Silang.
He had brought Ye Silang's skull back to Kun Society, but he didn't pay attention to it. He didn't realize that Immortal Peng had gotten hold of it.
There was a fatal sword wound that had been left behind by Maid Lotus. At that time, both of them were careless as they had not followed their usual practice of destroying the wound. Hence, Immortal Peng must have detected something.
Immortal Peng sacrificed two disciples because he probably wanted to find out about what type of swordcraft that the killer was using. Gu Shenwei shuddered at the thought of it and was in a daze for some time before recovering.
"You are a little strange." Maid Lotus observed Slave Huan for a while and was surprised by Slave Huan's expression.
"It's not me, it's Joy Pavilion and those people."
Gu Shenwei narrated his experience, especially the strange feeling at that time, "I seemed ... to be under some sort of control and I involuntarily relaxed my vigilance.
"It sounds like some kind of evil secrets. Is New Moon Hall behind this?"
The women in New Moon Hall specialized in evil secrets and Gu Shenwei had experienced it before. However, Immortal Peng didn't seem to specialize in such arts. Gu Shenwei replied, "It is highly unlikely. Immortal Peng lived in Jade City for many years and was reputable. if he was from New Moon Hall, then the Stone Castle would know about it."
This was something that both of them didn't know. Gu Shenwei decided not to go to Hope Alley again. Xu Xiaoyi's initial reminder about the strange people there was right. Although Immortal Peng knew about the Death Scripture, it seemed that he wouldn't leak it out easily.
Both of them returned to North City at dawn. Shangguan Ru hadn't recovered from the shock and didn't even come out from the house to listen to Slave Huan's report.
Gu Shenwei spent a few days doing nothing. On one hand, he was pondering about Immortal Peng's intentions while on the other hand, he was thinking about how to pull Shangguan Ru together without arousing Shangguan Fei's antipathy. He could not afford to lose his backer.
Towards the end of February, the Stone Castle sent men to summon Slave Huan back. This gave him an opportunity to change the situation.
The siege campaign by the coalition of Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu and Bighead Kingpin had proceeded smoothly. After a long period of planning and reconnaissance, they had sent many troops into Gobi Desert and had finally found several important strongholds of New Moon Hall after the new year. They had killed many enemies and had captured some alive. The prisoners of war were brought back to Golden Roc Fort.
One of the prisoners looked similar to a mysterious woman, just like the one that Slave Huan had described. Hence, Slave Huan was summoned back to the Castle to identify her.
Tenth Young Master Shangguan Ru and other killers' chests were once secretly fingered by a mysterious woman from New Moon Hall, thus causing all of them to black out. Although they sought treatment at Four Truths Temple and there was no relapse, no one was sure that they had completely recovered. They needed to find her as she was the one who could completely cure them. It would be very useful if this prisoner was the mysterious woman.
There were twenty female prisoners and they were imprisoned at Heart Cleansing Yard. They were of different ages, mostly naked and scarred. It was obvious that they had been tortured and their gazes seemed lifeless. They didn't look like human beings. However, some tried to hold their heads high and looked at those people who were alive with a strong gaze, as though they were hungry wolves.
These women were indeed disciples of New Moon Hall. Gu Shenwei could recognize them when he saw their gaze. Although they learnt from the same master, the disciples of Barren Sect seemed more normal. The disciples of New Moon Hall were like strange creatures who had never interacted with other human beings from a young age and their gazes were different from those of ordinary people.
The torturer in Heart Cleansing Yard didn't give any hints. Gu Shenwei soon found the woman he wanted to identify.
The woman was of a tall build. Her clothes were intact when compared to that of other prisoners and there was not much blood on her face. Hence, one could clearly see her face.
She wasn't the mysterious woman. Although it was a surreal glimpse, Gu Shenwei had a deep impression of her. This woman had a similar build, but was uglier than the mysterious woman. Most importantly, her gaze was full of madness, which was unique to that of New Moon Hall's disciples. However, the gaze of the mysterious woman appeared normal and she looked gentle when she smiled.
"Very similar." Gu Shenwei stood in front of the prisoner and stared at her without blinking. He said, "It has been some time and I couldn't remember clearly. However, she looked very similar."
"Let Golden Roc Fort make this careless mistake," Gu Shenwei thought to himself. This matter had nothing to do with him. It was better to let Shangguan Nu claim the credit, so that he would stop sieging New Moon Hall.
"Take a closer look." The torturer hoped to get a confirmation.
"I think she is the one, but I've only seen the mysterious woman once so I can't remember clearly."
Gu Shenwei was sent out of the execution room. Before the door was closed, he could hear them groaning in pain.
Slave Huan's mission was over, but there were several people who wanted to see him. The first person was the mother of the twins, Lady Meng.
According to tradition, when a mature child of the Supreme King left home for a year, he was considered to be independent and would seldom return home. Shangguan Ru initially wanted to leave the mountain at all costs because she didn't want to be ridiculed by others. Shangguan Fei missed the life in the Inner Residence but he couldn't return casually.
Lady Meng couldn't easily break this tradition, hence Slave Huan had a worthy trip back to the Fort.
Gu Shenwei felt somewhat uneasy. He was Shangguan Ru's most trusted killer and had to bear unshirkable responsibility for the fiasco of the Tenth Young Master. Lady Meng had high expectations for her daughter and was unhappy about the current situation.
To his surprise, Lady Meng showed no sign of anger. She was as kind as a mother of a close friend. Not only did she offer him a seat, but she also asked the maid to offer him drinks and cakes. Gu Shenwei's hands were occupied, and he wasn't able to take another item.
Lady Meng was totally different from her resolute self at the moment when she had killed the First Young Master a few months ago. She was now a mother of the twins and was deeply concerned with their lives. She asked about every detail. However, Gu Shenwei couldn't answer some of the questions, hence he tried to answer them in a positive way.
After talking for an hour, Lady Meng came to the main topic. She first sighed, and said, "Yushi had a pitiful death. Her mother invited me everyday, but she didn't say anything. She was probably resenting Fei'er."
"Master Yu volunteered to guard South City. The Ninth Young Master had predicted everything. Thus, no one could lay the blame on anyone. Please forgive my straightforwardness. I knew this day would come when I had decided to be a killer."
"Well, that's what it should be. After all, I watched them grow up. They will be affected by Master Yu's death. Ru'er will be greatly affected as Ru'er and Yushi were close friends."
"The Tenth Young Master is strong. She will overcome this difficulty."
"I know about her temperament. Even the highest mountain is supported by earth and stone. It worries me as she doesn't have any support..."
Gu Shenwei knew Lady Meng's intention, and immediately knelt down on one leg. He then placed the item in his hand on the stool, and said, "Madam, please rest assured. Since I am a killer under the Tenth Young Master and I am in gratitude of Madam, I will do whatever I can to repay you."
"It is good that you have such an intention. Please help me take care of Ru'er. She is my lifeblood, as well as Fei'er. I can't take it if something happens to them."
This ended the conversation. Lady Meng had not made a specific request. A maid then brought Slave Huan to the penthouse and wrapped up the cakes and jewelry that were given by Lady Meng, for Slave Huan to take away.
While working, the maid said without lifting her head, "Do you understand Madam's intention?"
"Sister, please enlighten me."
"Madam hoped that the Tenth Young Master would live well, but she didn't want the Ninth Young Master to feel sad. As both of them are twins, they are unlike other siblings and must not kill each other. The world, even Jade City is big. Why should they fight over the First Young Master's territory? The young one has grown up and need some opportunites to train. So the elder brother has to give in. In short, no one will starve to death. Madam has never said this before, but even with my stupidity, I know that the young masters will have their own territories. They wont't be bothered by the small businesses in South City, especially the Eighth Young Master, who is busy sieging New Moon Hall. She should follow Bighead Kingpin as the future is bright. Why bother about the little interest in South City? You were originally under the Eighth Young Master. Why don't you help your master?"
Gu Shenwei now understood. Eighth Young Master Shangguan Nu was Lady Meng's ally but now he was getting closer to Bighead Kingpin. This aroused Madam's suspicion. She wanted to use this method to test Shangguan Nu's reaction and also to give her daughter a chance to make a comeback.
Kill two birds with one stone.
Gu Shenwei thanked the maid for her reminder. He left the jewelry behind and took the useless cakes with him.
As soon as he left the Inner Residence, a slave who was guarding the door called Slave Huan to head over to the Eight Young Master's residence. The slave said that the Eighth Young Master had a message for him.
Gu Shenwei wasn't surprised. This was obviously Luo Ningcha's idea.