Dragon King and Maid Lotus had no choice but to halt their initial plan after listening to the vital information that Miss Ming Zhen and her maid, Han Xuan, had brought.
The two headless corpses would not fool the others for long. The traitors of New Moon Hall would know that their cover was exposed once they realized that these two baits had pledged allegiance to Dragon King. It would, therefore, be meaningless for Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus to pretend to be poisoned.
Ming Zhen was a cautious girl. Although she did not speak much, everything she said was information that Gu Shenwei desired.
Ming Zhen was known as the fat chief’s granddaughter, but it was only in name. In fact, she was his daughter actually. The fact that she did something out of the blue that shocked her family and the traitors from New Moon Hall made Gu Shenwei impressed, but he was also naturally suspicious of her.
Dragon King’s gaze was intense and powerful, as though his eyes were a thin blade that could penetrate one’s thoughts and shatter them into pieces.
Ming Zhen could not even withstand a single glance and grasped Han Xuan’s arm tightly as her petite figure trembled. She was afraid she would faint if Dragon King stared at her any longer.
However, Han Xuan was completely opposite character. Either she was too daring, or she was numb; she had no reaction to the intense gaze. She caressed the Miss’ arm and stared back at Dragon King fiercely. “Don’t you go frightening a child! Aren’t you embarrassed, as a grown man, to be staring down at Miss like that?”
Gu Shenwei slowly loosened his grip on the saber. He did not waste any more time with Han Xuan and turned to Ha Chilie instead. “Stay here. Do not go out no matter who calls you.”
“Yes.” Ha Chilie had a feeling that there would be a fight, but he was calm. This was a task that he was best at, and something that he wanted to carry out.
Gu Shenwei looked at Han Xuan again, “Have you killed before?”
“Of course, I was the one who cut off the heads of the two corpses.”
“Have you killed someone living before?”
Han Xuan thought for a moment. Without answering directly, she raised her head and said, “Isn’t it easy? I just have to be harsher when I strike.”
Gu Shenwei could not spare any more time guarding them so their lives would rest on Ha Chilie’s shoulders. “If you want to keep you and your Miss alive, you will need to strike with all your might no matter who barges in later. It’s not about striking harsher, but trying to kill with all your strength, as if you facing down the enemy who killed your mother.”
“It’s okay. I know what to do. Why waste my stamina? What if there are a lot of enemies later on?” Han Xuan shook her head repeatedly, still stubbornly holding onto her own views.
Gu Shenwei drew out his saber and swung it forward. His action was so swift that before Ha Chilie had called out, “Dragon King, have merc-“, he had already returned to his original position and lowered his saber.
Dragon King’s killing intent was reserved while Maid Lotus’ was overwhelming. Han Xuan was able to feel the sheer force from Maid Lotus and underestimated Dragon King because of this. Faced with the sudden strike, she was startled and puzzled. But then she understood what had happened and looked down. Half of her earring lay on the ground. Then she touched her ears and realized it was hers.
“What are you doing?” Han Xuan was angry. Completely disregarding the difference in strengths between the two, she struck a blow toward Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei struck the second time before turning to leave. This time, the target was not Han Xuan, but Ming Zhen who was standing behind her.
Han Xuan struck three blows, each blow was more powerful than before, but none of it even brushed Dragon King’s clothes.
Ming Zhen only felt a slight breeze beside her ear and had no idea what just happened. She only let out a scream after Dragon King had disappeared and covered her mouth immediately.
Her earrings were cut in half and had fallen to the ground.
Han Xuan was convinced. Indeed, Dragon King was not someone with an undeserved reputation. His machete skills were out of this world and even the mysterious woman who used to teach her Kung Fu was not his match either. But she remained stubborn and asked Ha Chilie, “Hey groom, is Dragon King always so rude and rough?”
The “groom” address embarrassed the other two in the room. Ha Chilie smiled wryly and said, “It is just Dragon King’s way of letting you know that when the enemy approaches, you might only have a chance to strike one or two blows. You will need to strike with all your strength since it’s a life-and-death battle. It’s not just a sparring and there is no time for you to test the waters.”
Han Xuan frowned. Although she did not like the way Dragon King reasoned with her, she was still convinced and felt that this groom was rather naggy.
Maid Lotus remained in Dragon King’s room next door. Gu Shenwei skipped the story of Ming Zhen and her maid and only revealed what was most important for now. “There are a total of 10 to 15 traitors from New Moon Hall. Except for Yan Er, the others had just arrived and they were all waiting for you.”
“I guess it’s not really a coincidence as well.” Maid Lotus said with disdain in her tone. It was her most obvious emotion as of now. “When shall we make a move?”
“Now, we don’t need to pretend to be poisoned anymore.” Gu Shenwei could not help but feel anxious. He had not taken shortcuts to save these few days’ of time for all his efforts to be wasted on the Gulping Wind Gorge. This was not part of his plan at all.
No matter how risky it was, he decided to take the risk and believe Ming Zhen’s words.
Maid Lotus nodded, she was more confident since the opponents were traitors of New Moon Hall.
Jiuqu Cave was located on the northern edge of the village. The name itself already sounded like a good place to lay an ambush. Gu Shenwei had come up with a simple plan and hoped that it would lure the traitors from New Moon Hall out.
They headed straight to the residence of the fat chief after heading out.
It was just after noon and the village was busy as usual. Dozens of heavily armed soldiers were patrolling, and the entire atmosphere was tense. But other than that, the deaths of the fat chief’s family had no influence on the village.
The residence was very quiet, not only were there no visitors, even the female slaves who were always around the fat chief had disappeared as well.
The fat chief had been waiting for Dragon King and Maid Lotus to arrive. He was not surprised when the two of them entered without anyone noticing.
Gu Shenwei gently drew out the Five Peaks Saber. He could put on all kinds of pretense when necessary, but he still preferred to handle things directly.
“Dragon King is such an impatient man.” The fat chief looked at the sharp saber, his hands resting on his plump belly like an enormous clumsy puppet. He could only stand still when he faced imminent danger.
“Yes, I am in a hurry.”
Gu Shenwei went up to the fat chief, a mere six to seven steps away from him. Maid Lotus remained at the door, her sword already drawn.
“I have something to say.” The fat chief was slightly uneasy.
Gu Shenwei waited for him to speak.
“Have you met Mingzhen?”
“Yes.”
“That girl is very smart, she takes after her mother…”
“That is not what I want to hear.”
“Yes, what I want to say is that the girls of New Moon Hall wish for reconciliation. They have no ambitions and only want to live in peace and stability, and have children like normal people. There is no need to fight as long as Maid Lotus agrees to it. The Gulping Wind Gorge will still be open to Dragon King’s army.”
The fat chief’s proposal was worth considering if not for the previous conspiracies. For the sake of greater interests, compromise was essential. Contradictions within New Moon Hall should not become an obstacle to the advancement of the army.
However, the time for negotiations had passed. More than a dozen traitors from New Moon Hall were gathered in Gulping Wind Gorge to get rid of Maid Lotus. There was no reason for them to give up easily.
“Ask them to come out then, we can talk about it.” Gu Shenwei humored him.
“They don’t dare to come out, they are afraid of the Dragon King, and they are even more afraid of Maid Lotus.”
Probably noticing that Dragon King’s intention to kill was growing, the fat chief quickly added, “In order to show my sincerity, I want to give Dragon King a present.”
The fat chief clapped his hands. Two men wielding sabers appeared from each side.
The four of them were genuine Golden Roc killers, that was clear. Gu Shenwei was always spot-on when it came to recognizing these people.
The spies from Golden Roc Fort in Wushan had split into two groups. In an attempt to sneak into the Great Snowmountain army, one group remained in the mountains and encouraged the mine thieves to ambush the coalition forces made up of the tribes. But Dragon King had seen through their antics and had captured all of them. Another group had headed straight for Gulping Wind Gorge, hoping to seal the route and prevent Dragon King and his soldiers from returning to the Western Region.
Under the guidance of Ha Chilie, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus took shortcuts and managed to stay ahead of the second group. But they too had finally arrived.
This was the “present” given by the fat chief. A present that was full of poisonous spikes and to be removed only by the person who received it.
Both sides understood the meaning of this duel. Whoever won could take possession of the Gulping Wind Gorge. The fat chief was a wise man and no matter how bold and generous he was, in the end, he would only choose the stronger one or perhaps, not at all.
The duel followed the typical style of Golden Roc Fort. Nobody spoke from the start. All sabers were drawn out from the scabbards and everybody walked forward cautiously.
The fat chief was right in the middle of the duel circle. He struggled to move his neck and looked at the killers who were ready to strike at any moment. It was as though they were merely toys that he owned. “Well, don’t dirty the floor. It had just finished cleaning…”
One of the Golden Roc killers standing on the left in front of Gu Shenwei struck first, brushing closely past the fat chief’s sleeping mat.
From the first day of his defection from Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei was never the biggest target of Supreme King. He was only a stain, which could be removed by professionals. Although the stain was stubborn, it was not fatal.
This was a good thing for Gu Shenwei. These four Golden Roc killers had all heard of Dragon King before, but still chose to adopt standard attack tactics and did not regard him as an enemy that they needed to respond agilely to.
Gu Shenwei knew what was going to happen the moment the killer on his left moved a step. So he leaned forward, pretending that he was going to face the opponent, but his right foot stepped backward instead. He turned slightly and struck with a blow, stabbing the killer at the back on the right.
The “front feigning attack while the back strikes an ambush” was a basic tactic for teamwork in Golden Roc Fort. They were too careless to use this trick against Dragon King.
Suddenly, there was a weakness in the encirclement of the four killers, and although the remaining three killers could still stand in their respective positions to block the gap, Gu Shenwei did not want to give them the opportunity. Once the battle had started, it would only stop when there was a clear victory.
One blow, two blows, three blows. Gu Shenwei’s steps were faster than his saber. He had already walked several steps within three strokes, and every step was a change in direction.
The fat chief’s demands were met. All four bodies were cut at the throat and there was little blood. As requested, the floor was not dirtied.
The whole process was too short and it was not what the fat chief had expected. Moreover, Maid Lotus had watched from the side and did not even participate. He regretted not listening to Guan Shang’s advice. Guan Shang was the only one who had witnessed Dragon King’s Kung Fu before ,yet he had not taken her words seriously.
“Good machete techniques.” The fat chief tried to sit up straight and praised Dragon King.
Suddenly, Gu Shenwei realized that the fat chief was trying to escape. Just when he was about to stop him, a saber stabbed down from above his head.
At the same time, the fat chief, along with the sleeping mat beneath him sank – he was about to disappear soon.