Chapter 301: Blame Me
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The disturbance in the Rouge Forest was directed at the Dragon King, but it ended up with a battle between the Joy Pavilion and the Tianshan Sect.
Many members of the Tianshan Sect were killed by the Dragon King imposter, and the other members of the sect had not let go of their hatred. They were searching far and wide for Wildhorse and the disciples of the Joy Pavilion, far more enthusiastically than the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei knew that Lianye's registering to take part in the Machete God Contest was most likely Wildhorse's idea, and deduced that the killer would send men into the Rouge Forest secretly.
He proposed to the Tianshan Sect, via Lin Xiaoshan, for them to work together.
Thus, the sect sent out more than 100 of its most trusted and skilled machetemen, and they hid amongst the audience as well, observing behind the scenes.
Most of Wildhorse's men were discovered when they drew their hidden crossbows and fired at the Dragon King. After their first volley, they threw down their weapons and wanted to escape, but were surrounded by the machetemen from the Tianshan Sect.
There were about 30 of them, and five of them were disciples from the Joy Pavilion. They did not flee when they realised that they were trapped, but drew out their weapons and charged at the Dragon King who was on the stage.
Fights were breaking out everywhere between both sides, and onlookers who did not know any kung fu started scattering everywhere, screaming and baying as they ran. More than half of the machetemen who had come to watch the contest decided to retreat from the affected area and watch from afar, while the others stood with the Tianshan Sect and helped to surround and pick off the assassins sent by Wildhorse.
It was also on this fateful day when people no longer differentiated between Wildhorse and the Joy Pavilion disciples. From that day onwards, they were known collectively as the 'Wildhorse Gang', and to everyone, Wildhorse was a far better representative of this ragtag bunch of grotesque beings than Immortal Peng ever was.
Gu Shenwei regained his confidence when he gripped the Five Peaks Saber. It was a confidence that allowed him to kill remorselessly.
It was a pity that most of the audience was scattered by then, and not many got to watch the Dragon King take on five highly skilled opponents.
Chu Nanping blocked away the incoming arrows directed at the Dragon King, but hesitated to strike upon seeing familiar faces from the Joy Pavilion. He overcame his indecisiveness and went forward, trying to force them away.
Tie Linglong had her chance now. She charged at an ugly-looking elderly woman wielding two short swords, and they were soon entangled.
Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong had only managed to engage with their opponents for a short while before the Dragon King struck.
He cut down the five Joy Pavilion disciples with only 11 strokes of his saber, and his speed was remarkable. When he was done with the last one, the first opponent was still shaking in a standing position—he had not even fell to the ground.
A few of the old machetemen who were lucky enough to witness the fight were shocked beyond words. They had never seen such a machete technique before—it was so simple and direct that there was no stance to speak of, and its only uniqueness was its speed. Every stroke was aimed at a vital part of the enemy.
"The Dragon King wins," announced an old macheteman as he stood up, entirely oblivious to the fact that there was no audience left.
Monk Lianye had not seen the Dragon King cutting down the Joy Pavilion disciples, since he was lying half-unconsciously on the stage with a streak of blood coming from the corner of his mouth all this while. When he heard the old macheteman's words, he thought the macheteman was announcing the result of the match between him and the Dragon King. He firmly believed that the Dragon King must have used deception to defeat him.
When he finally came to his senses and sat up, he realized that he was lying on a soft bed, and saw a maid whose cheeks were flushed red holding a green porcelain bowl. She was surprised by him suddenly sitting up, and gave a loud cry. At least half of the medicinal drink in the bowl she was holding spilled out onto the floor.
"Where's Yang Huan?" asked the monk sternly. The maid did not know anyone by the name of Yang Huan, and stared blankly back at him.
"I'm here," replied the Dragon King.
He had brought Lianye back to the his residence.
The Tianshan Sect had won a decisive victory—they killed more than 10 and captured six of their enemies. Only a few of the Wildhorse Gang managed to escape during all the chaos.
Lianye jumped down from the bed and channelled his Internal Breath once. He relaxed upon sensing nothing out of the ordinary. "Come, let's fight again," he said while giving the Dragon King a death stare.
"We'll speak of it again when you have removed the Peripheral Force in your body."
Lianye's face became as flushed as the maid. "How did you know?" he asked. He then thought about the duel he had with Yang Huan.
"The New Moon Hall is controlling you via the Force, isn't it?"
"New Moon Hall?" Lianye was perplexed. "Haven't they been wiped out? What do they have to do with this?"
Gu Shenwei knew that he had guessed incorrectly that the New Moon Hall was involved. He quickly changed the subject, "Wildhorse forced you and Master Lianhua to cheat by saying that he would remove the Peripheral Force from you, you..."
"Brother Lianhua did not cheat!" roared Lianye, his fists clenched tightly and his breath becoming faster. Jiang was frightened by him and took a few steps back.
Gu Shenwei did not counter, but merely continued looking at the monk. Soon, Lianye calmed down and sat unsteadily. "The person who cheated was me, brother Lianhua was just... just espousing his mantra. He believed that Breaking Obsession could remove killing desire from people, therefore he was willing to explain his mantra to the machetemen. Those taels of silver... he never kept any of it."
As Lianye spoke about Lianhua, he grew agitated and began hitting his head with his fists. "I'm to blame, I'm to blame, if not because he wanted to cure me, he wouldn't have..."
Kung fu from the Barren Sect was known to work in strange ways. Originally, Lianye had only received a little of the Peripheral Force on his Shanzhong acupoint, and there was no visible harm done then. He thought it would be a piece of cake for him to drive the force out, but things worked exactly opposite as how he thought it would. The little bit of Peripheral Force in him was like a speck of dust floating around in his body, hard even to get hold of, much less remove. Once he let his guard down, it began growing until finally it became an ineradicable disease.
Gu Shenwei waited for the monk to vent out all his frustration, before he asked the question bugging him. "Can Wildhorse remove the Peripheral Force in you?"
"He can, his Internal Strength is nearly at the same level as that woman," replied Lianye confidently.
'That woman' was not referring to Luo Ningcha, but rather the Barren Sect's disciple, Kang Wenhui. It was she that infused that little bit of Peripheral Force into Lianye.
Gu Shenwei did not express the surprise he felt. "Wildhorse is a killer trained by the Golden Roc Fort, how did he learn kung fu from the Barren Sect? Furthermore, the Barren Sect has nearly been wiped out, and the New Moon Hall does not accept male disciples. Wildhorse must have had a serendipitous encounter with someone during these few years, but Lianye would surely not know anything about it," thought Gu Shenwei.
"If that is the case, Lianhua died because of you, and you should avenge his death."
Lianye stood up again and took a step towards the Dragon King. "You're right, Lianhua was killed by you. I'll take my revenge."
Gu Shenwei lifted his head proudly as he said, "If you're not so foolish, perhaps Master Lianhua would still be alive today."
"Me, foolish? I..."
"You're not aware that someone poisoned your food, isn't that foolishness?"
"Poison? What're you talking about?"
"Why did you suddenly lose your sight on that day? If I'm not wrong, you lost your Internal Strength momentarily too, and were therefore unable to grab hold of the assassin on the spot."
Lianye began shaking and he looked as if he might collapse. "I thought that was the result of the Peripheral Force's outbreak. Was I really poisoned that day? Can it be that... you really did not kill Lianhua?"
"No, it wasn't me, and I still know who the poisoner is."
"Who's it?"
"Slave Qing, Shangguan Fei's butler in North City."
Lianye grew increasingly perplexed. "Shangguan Fei is the Ninth Young Master of the Stone Castle, why would he harm Lianhua when they haven't even met each other?"
"I don't know, maybe you can find out. He used an unnamed knockout powder from the Golden Roc Fort, but he mixed too large a dosage, and not only did that cause you to lose your Internal Strength momentarily, you lost your sight for a while too." Gu Shenwei told the monk everything he knew. Slave Qing was from the Fort, and he could not break the truce now. He would leave Lianye to take care of matters.
"You're not lying to me?"
"Whether or not I'm lying to you, you can find out by asking around."
Lianye thought about it for a while, then began walking out of the room. He paused at the entrance, saying, "Dragon King, if what you say is true, you're my savior."
"You don't have to repay me," replied Gu Shenwei in his customary calm tone. "You just have to tell me the outcome as well as the whereabouts of Wildhorse."
Lianye hesitated before replying, "I'll make the final decision as to whether I'll repay your kindness or get my revenge. Allow me to add that your Internal Strength is not quite right, and you had better not engage in any form of Internal Strength competition in the future."
The monk left after he finished speaking. Gu Shenwei was surprised by Lianye's sudden statement, and knew that the monk had discovered the concealed danger his Internal Strength posed. After a moment's hesitation, he suppressed his urge to chase after Lianye and kill the monk to prevent his secret from being leaked out and made up his mind to follow Lianye's advice.
Jiang was still holding on to what was left of the medicinal drink as she felt the need to say a few comforting words to the Dragon King, but did not know how to start.
A lot happened over the course of the day. A few old machetemen from North City came visiting, bringing along 3,000 taels of silver and a wooden signboard with the words 'Number One Machete God' inscribed on it. However, they did not bring the Melon-hilted Scimitar with them. "The Scimitar is enshrined in the Shenxu Shrine, and we would like to invite Dragon King to personally make a trip there," they explained.
Shenxu Shrine was situated in North City and could not be considered as huge, but it was the most important Taoist temple in the entire Jade City.
Gu Shenwei agreed and made an appointment to receive the scimitar on the next day's morning.
Scores of machetemen were crowding outside the Residence of the Dragon King, some of them looking to be employed, while many were looking to become a disciple of the Dragon King.
As Gu Shenwei appeared before them while sending the old machetemen out, the crowd surged forward and everyone began shouting incoherently.
"Take me as your disciple, Dragon King, my machete skills are good and I've killed a few hundred people."
"He's lying, take me instead, I'm rich, and can give you the amount you want."
"I'm willing to serve you, Dragon King, the pay is not important as long as I've enough to eat."
Xu Xiaoyi was extremely delighted by the enthusiasm displayed by the machetemen. "We need more men, and this is our chance. They're offering their services on their own accord."
"Don't bother about them first," replied Gu Shenwei. He knew that their enthusiasm would not last long. "Let's wait till after three or five days before really considering their offers."
As Gu Shenwei walked back into the compound, he could see Xu Yanwei talking softly to Tie Linglong. He hurriedly called the latter over, worried that she would be influenced by Xu Yanwei.
At first, Tie Linglong did not have a good impression of Xu Yanwei, but they had become close recently, and she was referring to Xu Yanwei as 'Big Sister Xu' now. "Big Sister Xu is such a good person, she tells me all sorts of things."
Gu Shenwei could not help but look at Tie Linglong again. She was just about to enter her teens, and he felt that is was inappropriate of her to mix with Xu Yanwei. "Don't speak to her again," he cautioned.
"Why, Big Sister Xu..."
"If you wish to improve your kung fu skills, you cannot be distracted. She doesn't know any kung fu, and whatever she tells you is of no benefit to your saber skills."
Tie Linglong did not push the matter further, but seemed a little indignant—she could be caught muttering softly to herself.
It was midnight when Lianye reported back. Gu Shenwei had already dismissed Jiang and told her to retire to another room. He wanted to speak to the monk in privacy.
Lianye looked a little off color, and did not bother to greet the Dragon King as he entered the room. He went straight for a chair, and lowered his head into his arms as he gathered his thoughts. After a while, he lifted his head and said, "Slave Qing is dead."
"When was that?" Gu Shenwei was also shocked at hearing about Slave Qing's death. At the same time, he blamed himself for being careless. He should have gotten Xu Xiaoyi to scout ahead and gather such basic information first.
"It was on the second day after Lianhua's death. Shangguan Fei declared him as a traitor and had him killed."
It was obviously done to silence Slave Qing, but Gu Shenwei could not point out the obvious. If he did so, the monk would definitely suspect that the Dragon King was using the dead man as a scapegoat for his own crime.
"I believe you," Lianye said after a long pause. He seemed to have made up his mind as he continued, "I'll tell you where Wildhorse is hiding. Will you be willing to avenge Lianhua's death on my behalf?"
Gu Shenwei had been waiting for the monk to ask. He pretended to think about it for a moment, then nodded slightly and replied, "Yes."