Chapter 244: Chilliness
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei kept silent, as he could not allow his emotions to affect his decisions, not when Maid Lotus was beside him. Shangguang Ru was an excellent example: The servants would not hestitate to bite back once the master became weak.
Maid Lotus was not his servant, but it was mostly due to his calm and heartless characteristics of a killer that made her willing to follow him. He could not lose these.
What an ordinary farewell it was, it was as if they would meet again the next morning. Shangguan Ru felt as if she had much that she wanted to say, but it seemed too simple to even mention it once she tried to put it into words. She merely did not want him to die. Just like that time when they were surrounded in the house; in order to protect the people around her, she would even put a knife against her neck. That was all.
Preparing to set off, he changed into a full set of killer gear, with a sabre and two swords snuck under his arm. Gu Shenwei again looked towards that pair of jet black eyes and said, "I am leaving."
Shangguan Ru nodded her head. Watching her two remaining killers leave, she suddenly felt the urge to cry. But she's a killer, not a child. Even if she could not kill, she would not become emotional. Taking in a deep breath, she stopped her tears from falling.
Even though they have the waist token, it was no easy feat trying to escape from the Stone Castle. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus formulated a plan and did not tell Shangguan Ru about it.
The duo left the Inner Residence as normal, and soon noticed that there was someone tailing behind. Maid Lotus had to pull Gu Shenwei forward as he lost his Internal Strength entirely. Circling around the maze-like alleys, and with their familiarity of the area, they managed to shake off the tail after 15 mintutes.
Assured that they were safe, with Slave Huan on her back, Maid Lotus carefully avoided the night watchman and purposely chose to take the quiet side path. After walking in a big circle, they came to the Reincarnation Cliff at the easternmost point of the Stone Castle.
In the beginning, tall arrow towers were built around the Stone Castle to kill the Giant Red-crowned Roc due to the nuisance it created. As the Giant Roc rarely appeared, and with the Supreme King living in seclusion, these towers gradually slackened their defenses, many arrow towers were no longer guarded, turning into abandoned buildings.
There were reasons as to why Gu Shenwei chose the arrow tower on the Reincarnation Cliff as his hiding place. First of all, not many people tended to go there unless they had to dump corpses. Secondly, he need to retrieve some things from the Giant Rock Cliff nearby.
Maid Lotus settled Slave Huan in the arrow tower and soon left to execute the second part of their plan: Someone would have to "escape"from the Stone Castle so as to draw Shen Liang and Lady Meng's attention toward Jade City.
There were still members of the former Tattooed Arm Gang in the Little Flag Battalion who were still loyal towards Slave Huan and Maid Lotus. Not knowing that Slave Huan is currently in a unfavorable situation, a member was willing to assist in faking a "great escape".
As soon as Maid Lotus left, Gu Shenwei came out of the tower and went towards the Giant Rock Cliff. There were a few things that he hid in there. This might seemed like child's play, but there is was no other place in the Stone Castle as safe as the Giant Rock Castle.
Both the Death Scripture and the Wayless Book were there. After some contemplation, Gu Shenwei put the Death Scripture back to where it was originally. The Wayless Book was the origin of the Golden Roc Fort qigong, but the Death Scripture belonged to him. If the hiding plan failed, Gu Shenwei would not want the Supreme King to get hold of the secret manuscript.
Once he was back in the arrow tower, Gu Shenwei looked through the balistraria, watching the dark night sky. Touching the copied Wayless Book in his arms, along with the fake seventh chapter that was given by Shangguan Ru, Gu Shenwei could not hold in his guilt any longer. He had lost the final chance, and this parting might very well be the last farewell.
Shangguan Ru was his enemy and she betrayed the Giant Golden-crowned Roc. This was something that he would never forgive. However, her trust was a price too costly, and this fact weighed heavily and unshakably on Gu Shenwei conscience.
Due to the lack of Internal Strength, he was temporarily not influenced by the Death Scripture, and therefore he was becoming weak. This was how Gu Shenwei tried to defend himself. Beside him, the short sword leaning against the wall that was unexpectedly returned to him by Shangguan Ru was a reminder to Gu Shenwei about his revenge of his broken home. Slowly, he turned hard-hearted.
There was still a long way to go before Maid Lotus could sneak back. Clearing his mind, he started practising the Wayless Qigong. He was practicing the fourth chapter tonight.
After some time, a sudden gust of chilliness sent Gu Shenwei a slight shiver. He opened his eyes to sober up from the mediation.
It was merely mid-autumn. Although the summit was colder compared to the foot of the mountain, it was not cold to the extend of making one shiver.
An impossible thought then appeared in Gu Shenwei's mind. He first pressed the Xuanji acupoint on his head followed by the Baihui acupoint on his chest. There was no response. The Peripheral Force had been removed entirely from these two areas. Lastly, he pressed on his Dantian.
An aching pain started from inward to outward and in a moment spread throughout his body. Gu Shenwei almost screamed, but he gritted his teeth and managed to bear the pain.
The killer was terribly disheartened. His qigong deviation was not removed. The Peripheral Force actually managed to moved away from the two acupoints into his Dantian. Previously he was not able to retain his Internal Breath, therefore he did not realize it. Today, a faint Internal Breath finally went to his Dantian after several circles, reevoking the Peripheral Force within him.
Gu Shenwei thought that it was all so ironic. His mind was still filled with lofty visions and causes to defeat the Golden Roc Fort, yet his life was hanging by a thread.
A Maid Lotus in disguise and the apprentice pretending to be Slave Huan returned to the Stone Castle openly in the early morning. The apprentice was very excited even though he obviously did not have any idea about the motive of this strange operation. Maid Lotus had no choice but to kill him from the back, then proceed to dumped his body at the East Castle to let people assume he was killed from the killings among the apprentices.
This was not a perfect plan. But as long as the pursuers assumed that both Slave Huan and Maid Lotus had escaped from the Stone Castle, they would not question the gatekeepers meticulously about the entering and exiting of the gates. The two killers were safe for the time being.
Maid Lotus snuck back to the arrow tower on the Reincarnation Cliff during the early morning as there were less people at that hour. She saw Slave Huan in crumpled spirits.
"What happened?" Maid Lotus asked as she wiped off the disguise on her face.
"The Peripheral Force went to my Dantian." He had been waiting for Maid Lotus to return, as both of them were in similar situations. If Maid Lotus did not fully remove the Peripheral Force as well, then that would mean it was a complete failure.
Using the Wayless Qigong to remove the Peripheral Force was a guess from the duo, and there was always a possibility that it was in vain.
Maid Lotus walked over to Slave Huan's side and pressed onto his abdomen for a moment, "I think this is just temporary. When Wayless Qigong gets stronger, it will remove the Peripheral Force entirely."
"Is it the same for you as well?"
"No, it's not like that for me, but I did not have self-destruction as well, so maybe that is where the problem lies."
Gu Shenwei was nervous and flustered for a moment, as he had not thought it through carefully. The reminder from Maid Lotus cheered him up slightly. She was right. It must be due to the self-destruction. He should not resign himself to self-loathing, but continue to practice qigong until he regained his power.
"I was slightly scared." He admitted bashfully.
"It's alright. Before I got the Wayless Qigong, there was a period of time when I couldn't fall asleep."
Gu Shenwei laughed, it was hard to imagine Maid Lotus, who was always calm, to lose sleep due to fear of qigong deviation.
The day passed peacefully. An apprentice came over to dump a corpse. He was not aware of the people in the arrow tower, kneeling at the cliff side, trembling for a while. It looked like the apprentice was crying, before standing up reluctantly and returning, pretending to look strong and tough.
Killers dumping the corpses themselves was a tradition that Gu Shenwei started and that was continued in the East Castle.
Apart from this, the duo did not know what was going on in the castle.
During the nightime, Maid Lotus went out to explore one round. She saw many killers leaving the castle in a hurry. Their diversion plan worked. Shen Liang and Lady Meng both assumed that Slave Huan and Maid Lotus had escaped the Stone Castle and sent men to capture them.
After eating the food that Maid Lotus stole from the kitchen, they practiced Wayless Qigong separately.
Gu Shenwei was slightly anxious. The Death Scripture relied on the Internal Breath to make a swift and deadly attack, he could only regain his kung fu and ward off attacks when his Internal Strength returned.
Maid Lotus was a good killer and assistant, but he could not possibly rely on her protection alone. They are partners, and partners should protect each other.
They hid in the arrow tower for five days in a row. The duo mostly did nothing during the day and practice qigong during the night. Maid Lotus would go and patrol around every night, bringing back food and bits of information.
The atmosphere in the Stone Castle was getting tenser by the day. The Supreme King was not concerned about who should be held accountable for Slave Huan, but how two normal killers could actually escaped the Golden Roc Fort without any trace.
It was worrying for Gu Shenwei as well. Soon, people would think to search the Stone Castle for the runaways. He needed to regain his Internal Strength as fast as possible.
He felt that the moment was coming soon.
Although Immortal Peng was a liar, he did possess some genuine knowledge. That kind of hypnosis after collective practice of the Secrets of Love was like no other. It helped Gu Shenwei to open the meridians in his body, and this was very helpful in practicing any type of qigong.
Once he finished a chapter of Wayless Qigong, the Internal Breath circling in his body would strengthen slightly. Although it would disappear after a few days of circulation, the duration tended to be sustained for longer and a faint portion of it would remain in the Dantian.
The only thing that worried Gu Shenwei was the chilliness that he felt within his body. It was also getting stronger by the day. Deep from the Dantian spread waves after waves of aching pain, and he once fainted due to it as well. Maid Lotus was helping him to wipe his sweat when he woke up. Gu Shenwei was shivering from the cold, but his forehead was damp.
This was a fight for time against the qigong deviation. Gu Shenwei would need to practice harder and let his qigong advance faster, so that it could overcome the Peripheral Force in the Dantian.
On the evening of the sixth day, Gu Shenwei felt particularly good. Even before he started practicing, there were signs of Internal Breath flowing through his meridians. This was an auspicious sign, showing that he was going to regain part of his qigong, and maybe even remove the dangers in his body.
Like always, Maid Lotus went out to steal some food and snoop for news. Gu Shenwei was left alone in the arrow tower, silently reciting the contents of the seventh chapter. He still felt that the Wayless Book was incomplete, there was definitely more chapters behind.
"Maybe only the Supreme King could grasp the secret within." Gu Shenwei thought. Unsure of how long that person had been waiting there, he turned around, and saw someone standing opposite on the ballista staring at himself.
"Liuhua!" Gu Shenwei exclaimed in surprise. Liuhua was supposed to stay in the South City to help Shangguan Ru take charge of Kun Society. What was he doing here?
"Are you ready?"
"For what?"
"Ready for your death. I've been going crazy waiting for this day."