What did the servant’s last words mean? Gu Shenwei had been wrong once before. He did not want to make the same mistake again.
However, he was still interested in the unrevealed “privileged guest”.
The seventh young master hurried back from the Stone Kingdom. He had not stopped to rest the entire night and arrived at the Gulping Wind Gorge around dawn. It was clear that he was very eager to meet with this”privileged guest”.
On the contrary, the generous fat chief had introduced almost half of the people in the village to the Dragon King, without making referring to anyone in particular. In the two days, the only person who was treated as a privileged guest was the Dragon King.
The father and son’s contradictory behaviors only made Gu Shenwei more suspicious.
“Ha Chilie, these days you have done much for the Great Snowmountain. I hope to reward you. Whatever you need, just say the word.”
Ha Chilie felt very surprised to hear Dragon King bring up the topic of reward, “Truly, I have not done much. I have just shown the way…”
All of a sudden, he realized that the reason the Dragon King had brought this up before the arrival of the army was that the Dragon King did not trust him. He knelt down on one knee,”Men from the Dongshan Mountain Tribe value loyalty more than anything else. I remember every single word I said and will never break my promise. I said in the Land of Fragrance that I would go to another war with you, and I did. On the battlefield, I gave up my weapon in return for your help. Thousands of people saw it. Since then, my life belongs to you and no other.”
Gu Shenwei accepted the allegiance of this man who was several years older than himself. Different parts in the Western Region had different customs. He must hold different attitudes towards different people.
The environment of Wushan was a harsh one. But there were minerals buried in here that everyone wanted. Therefore, the tribes here consisted of the simple and tough swordsmen like those from the Great Snowmountain combined with the cunning and snobbery of the Jade City residents. Loyalty, faith, money and power all played dominant roles here.
Gu Shenwei could conquer the Great Snowmountain with the sword and the will of heaven, but he had to use other techniques with Ha Chilie, “You have proved your loyalty, Ha Chilie, so I want to reward you by giving you a very important task.”
“Please tell me.” Ha Chilie did not say any more. He was very happy that he got a task instead of a reward because this indicated that the Dragon King really trusted him.
“You can tell me what kind of reward you want. If I have it now, you can get it right away. If I don’t, you will get it later.”
Ha Chilie bowed his head. He already had an idea, but he just did not dare to bring it up. But this moment was a prime opportunity, perhaps his only chance. Ha Chilie once again knelt down, “I hope that I can take you as my master. I want to learn your saber techniques.”
This request surprised Gu Shenwei. He thought about it. “You don’t have to take me as your master, but I will teach you the saber techniques.”
“Yes, Dragon King.” Ha Chilie was overwhelmed by happiness, but his words were stingy. Then he got up and waited for the Dragon King to talk about the task he had for him.
Gu Shenwei hoped to dig out the information of the “privileged guest”immediately. He could have waited for the arrival of the troops of the Great Snowmountain but it would minimize the loss of lives if he took the initiative.
“Those three people were killed by me.” Before Gu Shenwei mentioned the task, he would tell the truth. Anyway, Ha Chilie would know it sooner or later.
Ha Chilie did not speak nor reveal any expression of surprise. He had always speculated. Even when the Dragon King denied it previously, his suspicion did not abate. He had claimed to know the reason at that time, but he did not insist on his own opinion this time. He believed that the Dragon King had a reason for this.
“The chief must have figured it out. The troops are approaching. I hope that the gorge will remain open, so I have to know the actions and thoughts of the chief at any moment.”
“I can go find out. I am familiar with many people here.”
“Well, that is too obvious. It is easy to arouse suspicion.”
“What do you want me to do?”
Gu Shenwei paused for a while, “I want you to ask the chief to marry one of his daughters.”
This time, it was Ha Chilie’s turn to be surprised. He was a warrior. He was not scared of running straight into enemy ranks or evading hazardous traps. However, when it came to conspiracies and tricks, his reaction was much slower. “The daughter of the chief? This…”
Every time the fat chief met with Ha Chilie, he would say that he wanted to marry his daughter to him, but it was only a joke. Ha Chilie never took it seriously, and the fat chief never insisted.
“You have to marry a daughter of the chief. You had better choose carefully. The sooner the better. If you can, it will be best to take Maid Lotus with you.”
This is the first time that Ha Chilie heard the name of Maid Lotus. He was stunned, and then bowed and consented. He had already pledged loyalty to the Dragon King, so he couldn’t make excuses when taking on the task. He also figured that this marriage alliance had another purpose.
Ha Chilie asked for leave and started thinking about how to talk to the fat chief. A young master had just died in the Gulping Wind Gorge and the chief was grieving. This was not a good time to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage.
Maid Lotus came out from her hiding place. “So, you suspect that the’privileged guest’ is a woman?”
“I am thinking about a few things.” Gu Shenwei answered Maid Lotus as if talking to himself, “Did the chief really have no idea about the true identity of the female slave? When you revealed the truth, the reaction of Yan Er was strange. She considered you as the biggest evil to the New Moon Hall, but she seemed to hate the chief even more.”
“The disciples of the New Moon Hall are adopted from a young age. There are very few people like me. She hated me for a reason. But it is strange that she hated the chief. With her technique and skills, she shouldn’t have been bullied too badly.” Maid Lotus ruminated on Dragon King’s idea. It was like the two of them were like using the same brain to think about the same problem.
“Yan Er never neglected the illusion even when she was dying. But her performance was exaggerated, which means that she wanted to cover up for someone.”
“Another Golden Roc Fort killer? A female killer?”
Gu Shenwei indulged in his idea, “If Yan Er was performing, then the chief was playing along with her. When he claimed that Yan Er was a gift from the Golden Roc Fort, he probably told me that on purpose.”
Maid Lotus heart leapt,”There are more traitors of New Moon Hall lurking in here.”
“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have had a preconceived opinion at the beginning. I thought it must be the Golden Roc Fort controlling the Gulping Wind Gorge. I made mistakes again and again”
The conclusion he made was still based on speculation, but he believed that this time he was right.
“What a coincidence! I have been looking for them for a long time.” The killing intent of Maid Lotus was suddenly awakened before soon disappearing. At that moment, she was not the guard with tacit understanding with the Dragon King, but the Managing Master of the New Moon Hall who possessed great power.
Gu Shenwei was quick to seize the moment and suddenly realized why some New Moon Hall disciples would betray their sect. Maid Lotus had been favored by the Hall Master. She had a meteoric rise, esepecially due to the stolen “Wayless Book”. That would inevitably cause great conflict within the sect.
Among a group of mad women, it was unrealistic to try to compel submission by kindness. Gu Shenwei could imagine the reaction of Maid Lotus in the face of conflict.
Ha Chilie did an excellent job in fulfilling the task of the Dragon King. Before noon, he asked the fat chief to marry his daughter with some reasonable rhetoric, “Uncle, please forgive my obtrusion. I mean no offense. You have lost a son. I hope that I can take the place of my seventh elder brother. If you don’t despise me, please take me as a son.”
If the fat chief could stand up, he would surely hold this handsome kid in his arms. He stretched out his arms and waited for him to get close. He firmly held the right hand of Ha Chilie, “I have been waiting for today for so long. Good boy, Gulping Wind Gorge has always been your home.”
The fat chief could not wait to announce the news in public to lighten the miserable atmosphere that was over the village. The foreign business travelers were all surprised, commenting privately that the customs of this place were so different.
Ha Chilie’s father was far away, so the young Dragon King was invited to serve as an elder.
This was another noisy day. Congratulators flooded in, even more than the mourners in the morning. After all, congratulating was way easier than comforting.
The fat chief fulfilled his promise and let Ha Chilie choose his future wife. Under normal circumstances, Ha Chilie should have refused, and allow the chief appoint one for him. But with the task of the Dragon King on his mind, he only refused three times, and then he yielded with a show of reluctance.
The fat chief had many children, but there were not many daughters who were still unmarried. In fact, Ha Chilie did not have many options. The fat chief blamed himself for that. Gu Shenwei proposed a solution in a timely manner, “I think Ha Chilie doesn’t have to marry a daughter of the chief, a granddaughter should be fine too.”
The fat chief had no opinion. He only worried that Ha Chilie might not be willing to lower his seniority.
Ha Chilie pretended to be very happy, uncaring about the age gap. However, he felt that the task of the Dragon King was indeed arduous.
The selection was carried out in the evening. The Dragon King and Ha Chilie never mentioned Maid Lotus, but when she followed Ha Chilie to see the daughters and granddaughters of the fat chief, no one objected.
Because of the presence of Maid Lotus. Ha Chilie was willing to do anything for the Dragon King, but there were some situations that he could not handle. The fat chief had around thirty or even forty daughters and granddaughters who were not married. They were in their own home, so all of them were at ease. They whispered to each other, covering their mouths and snickering. Ha Chilie was in the midst of them, extremely embarrassed. He did not even dare to look up, let alone observe them carefully.
Maid Lotus took a look at them for him, not only the ladies but also the maids around them.
At the same time, Gu Shenwei and the fat chief were having fun drinking. The Dragon King had vomitted the previous night and proved that he was not good at drinking at all. Therefore, the fat chief was “drinking” and the Dragon King was responsible for “having fun”.
The experience of being a slave in Golden Roc Fort was indeed helpful. Gu Shenwei still remembered many tricks to please people. These skills had even better effects with him as the Dragon King.
However, in his heart, he remained vigilant.
The traitors of New Moon Hall might have walked into the trap. They were probably hidden in the midst of the women to observe Maid Lotus. However, they were more likely to see through the tricks of the Dragon King. Now that Dragon King and Maid Lotus were separated, it was a chance for them to attack.
The purpose of Gu Shenwei was to lure the enemies to act immediately. If they took no action, he would be more worried.
Then, the “privileged guest” of the Gulping Wind Gorge really showed up. She was dressed as a low-level maid, standing at the entrance along with a group of maids. Gu Shenwei found her out when he glanced over her for the third time. He was surprised to see that he recognised this woman.
Her name was Guan Shang, a rare female black-masked assassin at the Golden Roc Fort, the former protector of Shangguan Fei. She had betrayed the Supreme King and defected to the New Moon Hall, and now she was about to commit betrayal again.
Maid Lotus had never trusted her. When her swordsmanship had backfired in the desert, the first thing she had proposed to Gu Shenwei was to let Guan Shang leave.
What made Gu Shenwei even more anxious was that Guan Shang should have stayed in the capital of the Stone Kingdom to protect the princess, Xu Yanwei, and assist Zhong Heng. Now she was in the Gulping Wind Gorge. It was an ominous sign.