Chapter 235: Surprise
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The plot to assassinate the Supreme King was not successful. Although the people in the Fort had investigated for a long time, they failed to understand why it had developed into a massacre.
In West Castle, there was an alley that was close to the Eighth Young Master's residence. Many counselors from Whiterobe Academy were living there. Like the killers, they were following different owners and were the spokesperson for their respective young masters.
By the time when the Supreme King had fended off the assassins, half of Stone Castle could already hear Luo Ningcha's screams. Three of the most important counselors had heard of a piece of news: the Lord was assassinated.
Luo Ningcha was terrified and continued to scream. She became a direct footnote to the mysterious person's reminder.
Luo Ningcha's initial reaction wasn't due to the assassination of the Lord. Instead, she thought that Lady Meng had sent people to kill her. She was throwing tantrums and fearfully shouted, "She wants to kill me."
This was the first time that Shangguan Fa had seen Luo Ningcha's real character. He was surprised yet disgusted. He could finally understand why his Eighth Son, Shangguan Nu, would abandon such a beautiful wife and desert Golden Roc Fort. However, Luo Ningcha's misbehavior had saved her life as Shangguan Fa didn't think that she was the mastermind.
Shangguan Fa had even wasted some precious time to comfort the Eighth Young Mistress before he left. Although it was an open secret in the Fort that the Supreme King was lustful, he still had to keep his image in mind.
The situation had developed beyond Shangguan Fa's expectations.
He returned to the Inner Residence, and as usual, he secretly issued orders and inspected the fort. However he didn't expect that the news of the dead Supreme King would spread so quickly and that many people would believe it.
The Second, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Young Masters didn't regard Stone Castle as a safe home. They were guarding against one another and they felt beleaguered. Collusion and betrayal could happen at any moment. Some casual words and the meeting of each other's gazes could spark a fertile imagination and would cause them to fight among themselves. They relied on the Supreme King's ban on killing to maintain the delicate balance.
Not everyone believed the news that the Supreme King was assassinated. In fact, there were many suspicious things even before they saw the corpse. However, they were worried that someone would use the news to make preemptive strikes, so they had to strike first.
It was total chaos. The Fifth Young Master attacked the Second Young Master, the Sixth Young Master ambushed the Fifth Young Master, the Seventh Young Master charged into the Inner Residence to kill Lady Meng and Lady Meng wanted to kill everyone else.
When the Supreme King realized that the situation had gone out of control, the killing spree was already in the middle of being carried out, and he couldn't stop any of the orders. Shangguan Fa sent out many elite killers and several black-masked assassins around the city to announce that the Lord was still alive. Those who disobeyed would be cruelly suppressed.
The chaos in the Fort had died down at around midnight. Dozens of people, including the Sixth and Seventh Young Masters, had died in this ridiculous killing spree.
The Supreme King was furious. He imprisoned the Second and Fifth Young Masters and stripped Lady Meng of her authority. He found out that the culprit was that assassin, but he escaped unscathed and was nowhere to be found.
Gu Shenwei survived, partly due to his luck and partly due to the help of others.
Shangguan Fa was held back by Luo Ningcha, thus allowing the assassin to escape from the bedroom. A black-masked assassin saw Gu Shenwei just when he had jumped onto the roof. At the time, Gu Shenwei had not wanted to test his machete skills, so he fled. The black-masked assassin had closely followed behind him. It was as if he was Gu Shenwei's shadow.
Gu Shenwei couldn't outrun the assassin, but he was saved by an unexpected person.
As usual, Horsekeeper Elderly Zhang was still in the stable late at night. Luo Ningcha's scream made him quiver. For the first time in his life, he wanted to save a damsel in distress. So, he took a sickle and fiercely ran outside. He was slightly slow so he had let the assassin run past him, but he managed to stop the black-masked assassin.
The black-masked assassin killed elderly Zhang just like that. The old him would have silently stayed in the stable. He lost his life just because the lady had lifted her veil. The person who he wanted to save didn't require his help, but the person who he didn't want to save had managed to survive.
The black-masked assassin was delayed for only a moment. Although he had barely stopped for a short time, the assassin still managed to escape from him.
Gu Shenwei was grateful to Shangguan Ru and Shangguan Yushi as they had played a game of "assassination" two years ago. As they had covered every corner of Stone Castle, he knew every street and was more familiar of the area than the locals.
Gu Shenwei jumped from a low wall into a courtyard and shook off the black-masked assassin, who had been chasing after him. He then returned to the Eighth Young Master's residence. Just when he was about to enter his house, he saw Maid Lotus waving at him.
There were too many unexpected things this evening. Gu Shenwei entered Maid Lotus's house without much of a thought.
"Get on the bed," Maid Lotus whispered.
Gu Shenwei jumped onto the bed. When he was under the blanket, he removed his night suit and mask, and threw them at Maid Lotus.
Maid Lotus was unfazed and neatly folded the outfit. Then, she placed them together with her clothes.
"My sword ... is still in the backyard."
"Leave it."
After Maid Lotus finished her sentence, a group of people poured into the courtyard. Someone shouted, "Stay in the house! No one is allowed to come out!"
At this time, the fighting among the Young Masters haven't begun yet. Shangguan Fa was bent on finding the assassin. The night watchmen who heard the news first investigated the Eighth Young Master's residence.
"Where is Slave Huan? Why is he not in his room?"
Maid Lotus walked to the door and said, "He's with me."
The door was brutally pushed open and two of the night watchmen saw that Slave Huan was on the bed. They loosened their grip on their swords. They had seen too many illicit affairs between killers, so they weren't surprised.
"What happened? I heard noises in the backyard and was about to head over," Gu Shenwei said. He pretended to sit up in a fluster. He covered his body with the blanket and was looking around for his saber.
"That's none of your concern," one of the night watchman replied. He then turned back and asked, "Was Slave Huan here all along?"
Slave Xin peeked out and he seemed to be uneasy. He said, "Yes, I came at 9 pm and wanted to ask Master Yang if he had any orders. He wasn't around, so I stayed in his house."
Gu Shenwei realized that Maid Lotus must have known that Slave Xin was sleeping next door, so she made him enter her house. Without her help, his whereabouts would've been exposed by Slave Xin, and the timid slave wouldn't have covered up for the master.
"He's been with me this whole time," Maid Lotus said calmly. After that, she closed the door in front of the night watchmen.
Both of them didn't talk as they listened to the conversation that was taking place outside the room. They waited for the other places to erupt into chaos. The Eighth Young Master's residence quietened down when the night watchmen left to suppress the riot. As Lady Meng and the Young Masters were vying for the throne, they didn't think that Luo Ningcha would pose a threat to them. Hence, no one wanted to kill her.
Luo Ningcha was still in shock. When the night watchmen had just left, she ordered Slave Huan and Maid Lotus to immediately go to the backyard to protect her.
Gu Shenwei couldn't find an opportunity to explain to Maid Lotus, and she didn't ask him for an explanation. In the midst of the chaos, she had even retrieved his sword that was at the pillar and returned it to him.
Teacher Zhang Ji was smarter than what Gu Shenwei had imagined. The intelligent counselor had made use of the news released by Slave Huan and planned the killing spree. He helped Shangguan Hong eliminate both of his two older brothers and effortlessly suppressed the other competitors.
Just like that, excluding Gu Shenwei, there were at least two people in Stone Castle who knew about the identity of the assassin. He believed that Maid Lotus was unsure about Zhang Ji.
Zhang Ji used a simple method to prove to the killers that he could keep secrets. Every few days, a part-time businessman in the Fort would send him a pot of fine wine from Southwall Tavern. This businessman had received lots of silver taels, and it was sufficient to get a year's worth of wine. Zhang Ji would tend to accept the gifts. But this time, he had sent his young personal attendant to deliver a letter. His message was beautifully crafted as he thanked his disciples for their respect.
Zhang Ji hoped that there would be a killer who would want to follow Shangguan Hong because this Supreme King's son who he was assisting was too weak. The killing spree last night could have yielded better results, but Shangguan Hong couldn't display his ability. He could only cautiously stay by Lady Meng's side and displayed his loyalty and support to her.
After the killing spree, Shangguan Hong didn't receive many rewards. The Supreme King didn't even notice Shangguan Hong's existence. Lady Meng didn't require Shangguan Hong's help even though she had been suppressed by the Lord, just like the other Young Masters.
Gu Shenwei was slightly relieved.
The Supreme King didn't believe that the assassin's target was Luo Ningcha, but he still assigned ten killers and twenty machetemen to protect her. Hence, the Eighth Young Master's residence became one of the safest places in Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei managed to spend two days peacefully at the Eighth Young Master's residence until when Shen Liang came by.
Shangguan Fa had sworn to find the assassin and the mastermind. To this end, he released Heart Cleansing Yard's Blademaster Shen Liang.
The Supreme King only had superficial praises for his Eighth Son, Shangguan Nu, so he had imprisoned Shen Liang. However, when it came to solving conspiracies and finding murderers, Blademaster Shen was the best. Because of this, Shen Liang had managed to regain his freedom.
Shen Liang took over Heart Cleansing Yard again. He quickly launched operations and captured many people. Even though he had his eyes on Slave Huan, he was cautious and didn't act immediately as the Eighth Young Mistress had gained some influence. He waited for two days before going over to personally interrogate them.
Luo Ningcha must have been pressured as she didn't ban anyone from Heart Cleansing Yard. She wanted the interrogations to take place in the Eighth Young Master's residence. It would be good if there was nothing wrong with Slave Huan. Otherwise, she hoped that Blademaster Shen could resolve it.
Shen Liang naturally understood the intention of the Eighth Young Mistress. Although he gave his promise, he had a plan to get all of the information from Slave Huan before he died.
"This is a routine interrogation. Everyone in the Fort has to undergo this," Shen Liang said confidently.
"Ok," Gu Shenwei answered indifferently. He was banned from carrying his sword. It was the equivalent of him losing half of his kung fu.
"Where were you when the Lord was assassinated?"
"I was in Maid Lotus' room"
"What were you doing?" Shen Liang asked. He seemed to be asking the obvious, but he was well prepared. He believed that he could sound Slave Huan out, but he didn't expect to hear the following reply.
"I was experiencing qigong deviation. She had been trying to find different ways to treat me."
"What?"
Shen Liang grabbed onto the killer's shoulder and immediately realized that something was wrong. This killer had a weak Internal Strength. It could not measure up to the Internal Strength of an ordinary killer, let alone a Golden Roc killer.
It was true that Gu Shenwei was experiencing qigong deviation. He didn't expect that certain things would occur, such as the simultaneous implosion of two Peripheral Forces, which had almost took away his life.
This qigong deviation was directly related to the slap from Shangguan Fa.