Chapter 218: Eavesdropping
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Wei Lingmiao became an experiment into how strong a human's endurance was. Using as much time as he usually took to kill forty people, Gu Shenwei extracted everything through the former's mouth.
Three years ago, Wei Lingmiao came to break off the engagement.
There was originally already some marriage incompatibility between the Wei and Gu families, which was greatly exacerbated when Gu Lun retired to the Western Region. Both father and son of the Wei family wanted to call off the marriage.
Though it was true that Wei Lingmiao did not know initially that the target of the assassination campaign he took part in was his future father-in-law's family, he quickly found out yet did nothing to stop it. Instead, he merely raised a request to enjoy his woman, Gu Cuilan, before she died.
After cutting open Wei Lingmiao's stomach, Gu Shenwei sliced the flesh off the former's body piece by piece, and was finally able to ascertain that the former was not the person who recruited the killers of Golden Roc Fort.
"Nobody else knew, including Shangguan Nu. It was only the Supreme King who knew everything, while my father might have known a little. Kill me, I beg of you." At this point in time, Wei Lingmiao was wishing for death and was even willing to betray his father.
Gu Shenwei turned around and summoned the giant roc. Over the past few days of interaction, he had discovered that the roc could understand whistles, and so he opted to use this means of communication with it.
The giant red-crowned roc leaped into the air and tore the tent canvas with both claws before landing in front of Wei Lingmiao and staring into his eyes with a look of covetousness.
Despite wanting death, Wei Lingmiao was seized by an uncontrollable fear. Using the last bit of energy in his body, he raised his right arm to defend himself. All that remained of this hand, which had fondled the bodies of countless women, were a few dense white bones and traces of flesh and blood.
Before the giant roc could peck at him with its sharp beak, Wei Lingmiao was already dead.
Outside the tent, dozens of chariots were lined up in a row. Without chopping open the wooden boards to check their insides, Gu Shenwei simply figured from their weight that these chariots were uniquely designed. With the giant roc's assistance, he pushed the chariots one by one into the pit.
After pushing in more than thirty chariots, he unexpectedly saw a person inside the pit. In response, he immediately pulled out his saber, while at the same time regretted being negligent. He had counted forty-two people at the start of the expedition and seen forty-two people when he reached this camp, but there was yet a possibility that someone had come to meet Master Wei.
However, the person was not a man.
All this while, Xu Yanwei did not realize that the devil who wrecked the camp was an acquaintance, and she was even more horrified by the giant roc. Holding her head and cuddling herself into a heap, she knew only to scream "Don't kill me!".
Gu Shenwei recognized her through her voice. "How are you not dead?"
Xu Yanwei raised her head and was stunned for a moment. She then burst out weeping as she jumped onto her feet and ran over to hug Mr. Huan. With her crying became even more intense, she rubbed her tears and snivel on his body and did not say a single word.
Gu Shenwei had to push her away before he once again asked her why she was not dead.
"I... I slept with a guard, and he told me that t... tonight would be t... the end."
Xu Yanwei offered her explanation sobbingly. Many years of living in South City had given her an instinctive presentiment towards danger. A single loose sentence let slip by a guard had aroused her suspicions. During the digging, she found a chariot to hide under and subsequently watched as her unsuspecting sisters were brutally massacred.
"I should have listened to you earlier. You came to save me, right?"
Gu Shenwei did not reply. There was still plenty of work for him to do.
Xu Yanwei wished she could cling on to Mr. Huan forever. However, she was terrified to death of the giant bird and had to keep a far distance from it. Nonetheless, she could not stop talking about how good a person Mr. Huan and how silly herself was.
After all of the chariots were pushed into the pit, where they broke into different parts, it was time to cover them with the near-hundred corpses. The job was made considerably easier with the assistance of the giant roc, who treated it as a game, and would peck every corpse several times before tossing them into the pit. Xu Yanwei took several more steps back and continued to chastise herself, albeit her voice was no longer audible.
It was day by the time the ground was leveled. Gu Shenwei released the large team of horses and train of camels, knowing that if anyone came to search for clues, they would follow the hoofprints and be led far away.
Next, he smashed the wine jars and set them on fire.
He had to leave immediately but still did not know what to do with Xu Yanwei.
He had not thought about rescuing anyone in coming here. It was a complete accident that Xu Yanwei was able to live. Had the giant roc showed up a moment later than it did, the guards would have realized that the female corpses did not add up, and would have quickly found and killed her.
While she saw everything take place, the one thing she did not know was that the chariots were loaded with gold.
Gu Shenwei walked over to her with his saber in hand. As her sense of danger had already subsided, she scampered towards him joyfully while making a series of pledges that she would never act on her own accord ever again. "I'll listen to you, completely listen to you."
What saved Xu Yanwei's life was not her tears or promises, but a plan which Gu Shenwei suddenly thought of in which she could be of use.
The two people got on horses and traveled day and night on the same route they came from. While Gu Shenwei was accustomed to such a physically demanding course, Xu Yanwei had never suffered such heavy bumps before, yet strangely enough, she gritted her teeth and persisted without complaining or even asking for a rest.
When there was still a half day's journey back to the big camp in Iron Mountain, Gu Shenwei made a turn into the wilderness, where he bade farewell to the giant roc and allowed it to fly high and away.
The giant red-crowned roc had long become fed up of following the sluggish pace of human beings. Before Gu Shenwei could say anything, and had only waved his hands, it had already disappeared into the clouds.
Gu Shenwei felt that the bird was a little callous. Conversely, Xu Yanwei admired him almost to the point of worship. "Gee, to think you raised it! You're truly... a deity on earth."
There was a slight change in the way Xu Yanwei looked at him. She had always felt an unspeakable attraction towards macho tough guys. But Gu Shenwei dispelled her fantasy. "Stay here. The food and water should be enough for two days. Don't go anywhere or light a fire to get people's attention."
They were in the middle of nowhere, and the surroundings were full of bushes and weeds, while there could even be wild beasts nearby. In the past, Xu Yanwei would definitely have clarified, "Why should I remain here? Who shall protect me? When will someone come to fetch me?" This time, however, she simply nodded her head several times to indicate that she would absolutely not contravene the orders.
At night, Gu Shenwei slipped back into the big camp but did not return to his own tent. Instead, he cautiously made his way to the outside of Shangguan Nu's tent. He could not afford to waste a golden opportunity to kill one of his biggest enemies and frame either Bighead Kingpin or New Moon Hall.
This was a plan which he had come up with long ago. Killing the Fourth Young Master Shangguan Ruo and the black-masked assassin had given him tremendous confidence that he was ready to take revenge.
It would not be easy to evade the attention of a head killer and a black-masked assassin at the same time. Gu Shenwei had not slept for several days, but the fervent desire for revenge kept him going. Moving in circles, he approached the tent slowly and searched for the assassin's hiding spot.
The hiding spot was slightly unexpected. Instead of guarding on the roof of the Eighth Young Master's tent, the black-masked assassin was lying prone on top of an adjacent and bigger tent. He was wearing a cloak which was the exact same color as the tent, and was able to wrap himself completely in it.
Gu Shenwei discovered the assassin because when a gust of wind blew past, the roofs of the tents rose and fell with regularity, whereas only the hiding spot did not correspond.
"What is the assassin doing on the roof of Bighead Kingpin's tent? Could Shangguan Nu be thinking of harming his father-in-law?" Gu Shenwei thought, but promptly realized that his conjecture was false. The assassin was not guarding by his master's side because Shangguan Nu was discussing a private matter which he did not want anyone to hear.
Everyone had the potential to betray him, and even the black-masked assassin, who had to die before he could leave his master, was no exception.
Gu Shenwei first thought about killing the assassin but changed his mind. Instead, he moved round to the blind angle of the assassin's line of sight and carefully made his way to the back of Shangguan Nu's tent. Lying prone on the ground, he used his dagger to puncture a hole in the tent, on which he placed an ear and listened in on the conversation attentively.
There were two people inside - Shangguan Nu and Zhong Heng. Gu Shenwei was only able to hear a few broken lines as they were speaking very softly. Subsequently, he returned to his own tent, where a macheteman was waiting for his return. Without saying anything, the macheteman nodded at him and left at once.
Gu Shenwei felt asleep as soon as he shut his eyes. He only had a few hours to eliminate the fatigue of the past few days.
He had changed his mind and not killed Shangguan Nu because the words he heard made him conceive an even greater plan which could allow him to kill even more members of the Shangguan family.
Early in the morning the next day, the killer Yang Huan, who had been "plied with wine" by the machetemen in his own tent for several consecutive days, finally sobered up. The gifts to be delivered to Stone Castle were also adequately prepared and ready to be sent out at any time.
While Shangguan Nu never came by to visit, Zhong Heng did so once. Gu Shenwei informed him that the gold was already well-kept and could be divided after the limelight had faded, to which the commandant did not object.
Master Wei and his entourage had died in the most desolate of places, and thus it would take several days before the news reached the big camp. All things considered, Gu Shenwei had managed to get ahead of the rumors.
The gifts which Bighead Kingpin prepared for his daughter included not just rare treasures but also twenty female slaves which he had specially purchased according to his daughter's request. Allegedly, Luo Ningcha was feeling lonely in the Stone Castle and wanted more people to accompany her.
The evening before setting off, Gu Shenwei went to have a look at the twenty female slaves and chose one of them to follow him. The registrar and guards understood tacitly what was going on and authorized her release, while the slave herself was also very compliant. Once out of the tent, she clung on to the killer and asked him many questions in her unpolished Central Plains Chinese.
Gu Shenwei requested two horses, one for the slave and one for himself, and left the camp under the cover of night. Though this appeared a little strange, nobody asked too many questions. The two of them were not from Iron Mountain, and nobody felt it was necessary to be a busybody.
Xu Yanwei had suffered a fair bit hiding in the wilderness for two days. The rustling of leaves in the wind terrified her, and so she had eaten only a few mouthfuls of the food and had not dared to sleep much. When she heard the clattering of the galloping horses, she quickly hid herself in the tall grass and only climbed out after hearing Mr. Huan's voice.
"Who is this?" Xu Yanwei questioned in surprise.
The female slave was also very surprised. "Go, let's go back to the big camp."
Gu Shenwei pulled out his knife and cleanly stabbed it into the female slave, who fell on the ground practically without bleeding.
Xu Yanwei's eyes stared wide open, yet she did not dare to scream, and almost stuck her entire fist into her mouth.
"Put on the clothes."
Gu Shenwei turned his back. Although Xu Yanwei was becoming increasingly aware that things were odd, she had made up her mind not to ask any questions and instead leave everything to Mr. Huan to decide.
After midnight, the killer Yang Huan returned to the camp with his "female slave" and kept her in his own tent. He only "returned" her the next morning when the gift-sending contingent was about to set off.
The accompanying female slaves felt that she had changed slightly, but because every one of them was purchased from different places, nobody would fuss over a trifle like this.
By sending Xu Yanwei to Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei intended not only to keep a survivor with first-hand information alive but also for her to do something for him.
Gu Shenwei felt that it should be a simple task because he had overheard two important pieces of information from Shangguan Nu:
The Central Plain was indeed planning to act against Bighead Kingpin, and it would be within a few months' time.
Eighth Youth Master had already betrayed his father and Golden Roc Fort.