Chapter 194: A Bargain
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The dwarf's death remained vivid in Gu Shenwei's mind. Gu Shenwei was not intimidated by that terrifying visage's deceiving words. He was also unmoved by Immortal Peng's enrapturing influence. "Let him come to the window."
Gu Shenwei would not walk into the trap.
There was no response coming from the window on the third floor. The disciples who were drinking tea on the first floor had just walked out. Some of them carried weapons in their hands. They looked up and saw the two killers on the wall.
Gu Shenwei decided not to confront the group alone. He glanced at Maid Lotus and the two were prepared to escape into the peach forest.
The window on the third floor revealed another face. It was that white-robed elderly man with a long beard. He had once tried to take revenge for Immortal Peng. "Leave."
This order was uttered for his own people. The disciples obeyed and returned to the teahouse. After a while, one hunched disciple with a heavily pitted face walked out. He dragged a tray that was carrying tea and leaped up the wall. He did not spill the tea. Later, he retreated and turned to face Joy Pavilion. He raised his two hands high and was about ten steps away from the killer.
The white-robed elder jumped out from the window on the third floor. He landed beside the hunched disciple. His qing gong was very good. However, what surprised everyone was that he was very slow and did not seem to have "jumped" but rather he had "floated". His entire body seemed to be as light as a feather.
"Please drink some tea."
Gu Shenwei shook his head. He was wary of the elder. In his heart, he made plans to escape. He was here to negotiate but he had to prepare for the worst.
The elder did not seem to have noticed the killer's movements. He raised his hand to tap lightly on one teacup. The teacup flew out and drew a beautiful arc in the air. It bypassed Gu Shenwei and arrived beside Maid Lotus.
Maid Lotus reached out to catch the cup. Her body shook a little.
The elder flicked a second cup and it flew directly towards Gu Shenwei.
Like Maid Lotus, Gu Shenwei reached out to catch the tea cup. His body did not shake but his heart was pounding fiercely. The elder's Internal Strength was very deep. He was a rival to be reckoned with.
"There aren't many cups left of this fine Tianshan snow tea. Please have some."
"I'm not here to drink tea." Gu Shenwei did not know the kung fu of flying teacups. He loosed his grip immediately and the teacup dropped to the floor. It was still inches from the top of the wall when Gu Shenwei raised the tip of his feet to catch it gently. The teacup dropped to the ground. The tea was still in it.
"You are a fine tea master." The white-robed elder smiled faintly and took a sip of his tea.
"You know why I came."
"I was waiting for you."
The white-robed elder had the killing desire. However, this time, he seemed to have thought things through.
"Let's talk then. I don't want anybody to suspect me of stealing any 'treasure' from Immortal Peng." Gu Shenwei did not believe in coincidences. Rumors must have originated from someone. Joy Pavilion could not be innocent in this matter.
"I don't want anyone to claim that an Immortal was killed. Immortals never die." The elder looked at Gu Shenwei and laid out his request pointedly.
In order to stop one lie, another lie had to be said. Gu Shenwei couldn't help but cleared his throat. "So you got yourself another Immortal Peng?"
"No. Immortal soul-delivering. This means they will abandon their flesh and enter into a new body."
"So you're the new Immortal Peng."
"There's no old or new. I'm Immortal Peng."
The white-robed elder's expression was serious when he said this. Gu Shenwei even felt a tinge of admiration for him. This was what commandant Zhong Heng meant by "solving the problem". "So, I'm just a small fry who was used by Immortal Peng- I mean you- to complete your soul transfer?"
"Yes."
"So, it's impossible for me to steal your treasure?"
"That's correct."
It seemed that this was a deal that would benefit both sides. Gu Shenwei smiled. "Immortal Peng has made a great calculation. I'm humbled."
"Your Excellency's swordcraft is divine. This immortal is also humbled."
"Joy Pavilion is still Joy Pavilion."
The new Peng Immortal nodded his head. "Tomorrow noon the immortal will rise to heaven in his flesh. Sir, please refrain from coming to the scene."
"Definitely."
The white-robed Immortal Peng did not do anything. The hunched man rose up and walked beside Gu Shenwei. He raised his teacup and with a shake of his body, bypassed the killer and arrived beside Maid Lotus.
Maid Lotus didn't know how to flaunt her kung fu. She placed her teacup in the tray honestly.
The white-robed Immortal Peng "floated" to the third floor. Gu Shenwei saw clearly that there was a long and almost transparent long chain in the immortal's hand.
"See you tomorrow."
Since there was no mortal danger and Gu Shenwei did not want to leave so quickly, he said. "I want to meet Tang Ji."
Tang Ji was the supervisor of the first floor of the teahouse. His kung fu was lowly. In Joy Pavilion, he was only a servant. The white-robed Immortal Peng certainly did not anticipate this killer's request. He blinked and did not say anything. He turned and vanished. Not long after, Tang Ji walked out from the back door.
Compared to the disciples of Joy Pavilion, Tang Ji, whose face was smeared with rouge, seemed relatively sadder towards the death of Immortal Peng. The scars made by the tears streaming down his face were visible. His animosity towards the killer on the top of the wall was also clear. They looked at each other in anguish and did not say a word.
"I want to ask you about something."
"I won't tell you anything."
"This isn't very good." Gu Shenwei said. However, that person had already jumped down from the top of the wall and come up to Tang Ji. "I had just spoken to Immortal Peng about a transaction. I don't want to talk about the conditions so quickly."
Tang Ji understood what the killer meant. Joy Pavilion had just changed its owner. He didn't want to get into trouble and after thinking for a moment, said stiffly: "You can ask me about it but I might not know."
"Are there people in Hope Alley who are particularly familiar with the Ninth Young Master from Stone Castle?"
"What do you mean?" Tang Ji's expression changed. "What do you take me for?"
"Someone who is very familiar with Hope Alley."
"Go ask the Ninth Young Master himself."
"A slave won't try to find out anything from his master."
"Oh, are you a slave too?"
Gu Shenwei did not reply and Tang Ji did not speak again. The two looked at each other for a while.
Maid Lotus also jumped down while holding the hilt of her saber in her right hand. Suddenly, Tang Ji shuddered and shrunk his body instinctively. His body was slanted to a side and he came up close to Gu Shenwei, almost as if he wanted to seek his protection. "No, there's no one who is familiar with the Ninth Young Master in Hope Alley. The Ninth Young Master won't like people like us."
Tang Ji's kung fu was not advanced but one could feel its murderous feeling. That beautiful woman who had a calm expression on her face actually revealed an aura that shocked him. After speaking, he turned to run back to the house and grabbed a cup of bitter tea. He tipped his head, downed it and did not regain his energy until after half a day had passed."
Shangguan Fei was meticulous. He will not let his scandals leak out so easily. Gu Shenwei believed that Tang Ji was speaking the truth.
The two traversed through the peach forest. Maid Lotus, who had just threatened her rival with her murderous feeling, commented: "Look, the flowers have fallen."
The pink flower blossoms fell and scattered all over the floor. Gu Shenwei looked at them blankly. He hadn't noticed the flowers blossoming. He also felt nothing when the flowers fell.
He saw a little figure standing between two piles of dirt.
That was the tomb of Ye Silang and Chu Yangjun.
Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised. In the past few months, he had been practising with Chu Nanping in the peach forest nearly every day. He had never seen this child show any interest in his brother's tomb. He passed by occasionally but ignored it.
Chu Nanping was holding swords of disproportionate lengths in his hands. He turned his head to look at the killer, who looked as similarly dazed as him. "Someone wants to kill you."
A faint breeze stirred, scattering peach blossoms all over the ground. The naive assassins were not fearful of an assassination. They walked out from behind the tree and blocked the way of the two killers.
With a face full of marks, bulging eyes, and disfigured noses, the two uglies who looked almost identical held four short daggers in their four short hands.
"Immortal Peng asked you to come?" Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus held onto their sword shafts. The person in front of them was an expert and was a suitable target for their sword practice.
"He isn't Immortal."
"Immortal was killed by you."
"You even took a scroll from Immortal."
"We want to avenge his death and reclaim his treasure."
The two uglies took turns to speak. Their meaning was clear.
Joy Pavilion was split up. One was ready to accept the new Immortal Peng and to continue the fantasy of life as before; the others wanted to choose their own destinies.
There was nothing left to be said. What's left was only to kill and be killed.
Chu Nanping walked over and stood in between the two rivals. He pulled out his long sword and faced the uglies. "You can't kill him."
The Uglies' shocked expressions made them look even more hideous.
"Chu Nanping, what are you doing? You said you wanted to kill Yang Huan."
"I want to kill him. You can't do that."
"Nonsense. Get out of the way!"
Chu Nanping used his long sword in reply. He did not understand the word "nonsense".
The 64 types of training methods in the "Secrets of Love" are a complete nonsense but the kung fu itself was real and isn't weak at all. Once the four swords are taken out, Chu Nanping would be immediately defeated. If the two uglies hadn't shown any mercy, he would have no means of looking for Xu Xiaoyi to "play".
Gu Shenwei rushed over and one ugly immediately gave up on Chu Nanping to face this killer's challenge.
Gu Shenwei's advance was as quick as his retreat. The two uglies did not let him go at all. They had barely pursued five steps before they seemed to trip over a stone. They fell forwards heavily and never rose again.
Maid Lotus appeared beside Gu Shenwei.
The other ugly man roared loudly as he pressed his swords strongly against Chu Nanping. He swept his sword at the female killer.
Maid Lotus also retreated and the second ugly man also fell forwards like the first.
Gu Shenwei's sword had also tasted fresh blood.
From how Chu Nanping saw it, the sword skills of the two killers were incredibly high and they killed with ease. The ugly man looked like a brute who didn't know any kung fu and who fell on his own sword.
He was supposed to be a "heartless man" who wouldn't reveal his emotions easily. This time he gaped in astonishment too. In his mind, the sword craft of killer Yang Huan was close to his and he would often go to seek advice from him.
The Death Scripture was not an easy form of sword craft. Gu Shenwei gave it his all for Maid Lotus. Were it not for Chu Nanping who disturbed the two uglies and threw them into disarray, they could have left several wounds on the killers. These wounds might have been fatal.
The gap between the masters was very small but the outcome was a matter of life and death.
This was the first time an outsider had seen Maid Lotus use her sword craft. She looked towards Slave Huan and wanted to know what he thought.
"My sword craft is better than yours." Gu Shenwei looked at Chu Nanping and had an idea in his mind.
"This is strange. It's not like Heartless Swords at all." Chu Nanping was obsessed with his own kung fu.
"So, do you still want to block the assassin for me?"
Chu Nanping nodded his head solemnly. "Immortal Peng will die and you will also die. I have to guarantee that the person who will kill you is me."
"Well, then just follow me. There're many people who want to kill me. When you're willing, you can try to kill me."
Gu Shenwei had Maid Lotus by his side but did not mind having another person protecting him.
Chu Nanping was not an expert but he would grow into one eventually.
The two killers broke the wounds as usual and headed toward the outside the forest. Chu Nanping did not respond to the killer's words but hesitantly followed behind him as if he was not clear of his own role.
When they had reached the edge of the peach forest, he found that he had been surrounded. Scores of machetemen were lined in small groups and they walked neatly into the peach forest, blades gleaming and brimming with murderous intentions.