As Gu Shenwei had expected, even after he issued a gag order, news that he was attacked in the palace spread quickly throughout the capital and into the military camp.
The Great Snowmountain army had already taken measures to prevent sneak attacks by the Golden Roc killers, and Gu Shenwei introduced even more security measures on top of these: Firstly, he restricted civilians from coming within five kilometers of the military camp. He also sent his cavalry to trample a special passageway between the camp and the capital city of the Stone Kingdom. In addition, unauthorized personnel were restricted from using it.
In the course of these measures, Gu Shenwei summoned the Shangguan brothers for a meeting.
Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei felt anxious and afraid as they were ‘escorted’ to meet the Dragon King by a few swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain. The path they took was windy, and they felt as if they were walking into a labyrinth. They were even blindfolded for the final stage of their journey.
The location of the Dragon King’s quarters was now kept secret, and only a select few knew where to find him. That said, even such a privilege was temporary, as it was very likely that they would not find the Dragon King at the same location as before.
Shangguan Fei reminded himself silently, “You know Wayless Qigong, the divine Kung Fu. Defeating these swordsmen would be easy.”
With this in mind, he kept himself ready all along the way but did not strike. As such, when he walked into the Dragon King’s tent, his arms were all stiff and aching from tensing up.
Shangguan Hong fared worse than his brother. He was even more afraid; so much so that he did not even have the strength to escape, and could only bite the bullet. Upon meeting the Dragon King, he gave a deep bow in adulation, before realizing that it was out of character. He knew that the sudden change of habit was akin to admitting his mistake, and with this thought, he turned pale. He had prepared something to tell the Dragon King beforehand but now remained silent.
Gu Shenwei reinstated the old ban and no one could come within five steps of him. Outside of this five-step radius stood all of his guards, and they consisted of layer upon layer of swordsmen, machetemen, savages, and slaves. There were so many of them that there was nearly no space for anyone else to stand in the tent.
The two brothers walked in unison along the narrow passage toward the Dragon King and were intercepted once they were within 10 steps of him.
Gu Shenwei’s killer temperament miraculously disappeared. He was now the Dragon King and of higher stature than everyone; only the weapons hanging from his waist symbolized the source of his authority.
“You two have nothing to be afraid of,” said Gu Shenwei. His tone was cold, which made the brothers even more afraid.
“It’s great to see that you’re unharmed, Dragon King,” Shangguan Fei said, beating his brother to be the first to speak.
“Your Kung Fu is superior, and there’s no match for you out there. How could a few… lowly… Golden Roc killers… harm you?” Shangguan Hong said. He was a little unused to belittling his own killers.
Gu Shenwei did not react to their crude flattery and nodded to his guards. They began to snake out of his tent, beginning from the slaves at the outermost ring.
As space in the tent gradually increased, so did the anxiety of the two brothers. When the last swordsman closed the flaps of the tent, Shangguan Fei said, “If you kill me, Dragon King, my sister–”
He stopped himself mid-sentence. It was the same sister who had heartlessly refused to let him remain in the Land of Fragrance and left him to the fearsome Dragon King; it was her who caused him to feel afraid constantly.
Shangguan Hong was obviously feeling more guilty. He swallowed his saliva and hurriedly began explaining, “Dragon King, it’s not me who leaked the secret. I’ve your best interest at heart and Xu Yanwei can vouch for me. I’m absolutely loyal to you.”
Shangguan Fei was stunned for a while upon hearing Xu Yanwei’s name but he quickly realized the implications behind his sibling’s statement. “The Dragon King was attacked in the royal palace and hasn’t that bitch always resided there?”he thought. He felt more relaxed once he was certain that he had nothing to do with the incident. As for Shangguan Hong, his so-called ‘elder brother,’ he now saw him as an enemy.
“She’s not a bad hooker. She’ll do anything for money,” Shangguan Fei added in without prompting.
Shangguan Hong glared at Shangguan Fei harshly as his mind spun faster than usual. He immediately shouted, “I don’t have any money, our relationship is–”
He had no way to accurately describe their relationship. Xu Yanwei used to be a sex worker and specialized in pleasing her customers, but now, Shangguan Hong was the one who tried to please her; there was no proper way for him to explain that.
As Gu Shenwei looked at the two brothers go, he reminded himself that he had to step up his own performance a notch. As such, he swept his gaze across their faces back and forth until they were blue in the face and said, “There’s no need to explain further. I trust you two. Those killers were planted in the palace years ago and have nothing to do with you.”
The two brothers heaved a sigh of relief.
“I’ve summoned the both of you because you two are also in danger,” the Dragon King revealed.
“Us?” the two of them asked at the same time.
“Well, the decisive battle between the Golden Roc Fort and the Great Snowmountain is at hand and according to tradition, killers are always sent to wreak chaos in the enemy camp. The first target will naturally be me. As for their other targets, I’m sure the two of you are among them.”
“Father… his Lord… the Supreme King will not be so ruthless, right?” Shangguan Fei cried as he asked. It was a rhetorical question; he was absolutely clear that his father was even more ruthless than that.
“We helped the Dragon King rescue the army of the Great Snowmountain; Shangguan Fa will never forgive us for that,” added Shangguan Hong. He did not have a strong impression of his father and therefore it was natural that he did not have many feelings for him. “Therefore we are strongly bound to you, Dragon King. The others may betray you, but we definitely will not.”
Gu Shenwei nodded, signifying that he agreed with Shangguan Hong’s opinion, “Originally, I wanted to keep both of you by my side, but I’ve too many matters to attend to and I’m unable to constantly look out for you two,” he said.
“We can take care of ourselves,” Shangguan Hong was the first to reply. “We are eternally grateful for you to even consider it, Dragon King.”
“Since both of you have turned to me, I will naturally have to ensure your safety. If not, wouldn’t I become a laughing stock and cause my soldiers to be terribly disappointed?”
Shangguan Fei could sense that the Dragon King had something to tell them and immediately continued the conversation along this train of thought. “Yes, yes, not only does this concern our lives, but it also affects your reputation, Dragon King. Tell us, esteemed Dragon King, what would you have us do?”
“I need a favor from you two. Or rather, I need both of you to take a risk for me.”
Even though both Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei were prepared, upon hearing the word ‘risk,’ they exchanged glances and declined to be the first to accept. It was eventually the former who spoke up first, “So be it. I believe that you have a solid plan in mind, Dragon King. When we tricked Dugu Xian previously, didn’t it go pretty smoothly and safely?”
Shangguan Fei knew that there was no option left but to accept the task. “Yes, yes as long as it’s the Dragon King’s plan, we’ll naturally be safe from harm.”
Gu Shenwei stared at the both of them for a while before saying, “Attack is the best form of defense. I want to make use of the both of you to draw out the Golden Roc killers and completely wipe them out of the Xiaoyao Lake region.”
The two siblings did not speak and Gu Shenwei took it as their tacit acceptance. He summoned some men to bring them out of his quarters into two separate tents nearby and they enjoyed the same level of security as he did.
That evening, Shangguan Fei covertly went to seek an audience with the Dragon King on his own. He looked furtively around upon entering the Dragon King’s tent and only walked up to five steps from the Dragon King after he had dismissed his guards. He then spoke in a soft voice, “Dragon King, there’s something that I don’t know whether I should be telling you about.”
“Feel free to speak your mind,” said the Dragon King.
“You shouldn’t trust Shangguan Hong,” Shangguan Fei disclosed.
“Why?” the Dragon King inquired.
“You should know what sort of person Xu Yanwei is, Dragon King. She loves money, but Shangguan Hong is not rich. It’s only natural that Shangguan Hong is the one who initiated the whole thing. Isn’t it weird? It’s not as if he didn’t have amorous relationships with women in the Land of Fragrance, so why is he so invested in his relationship with a sex worker? There’s something fishy about it.”
Shangguan Fei was smart but his timidity made him seem foolish at times; Gu Shenwei reminded himself to be wary of the young man. He considered for a while before replying, “I already know about the things you just told me.”
Shangguan Fei brightened up upon hearing his statement. “Then how would you handle– You don’t have to tell me. I’ll rest assured knowing that you are already prepared, Dragon King,” he said.
Shangguan Fei took his leave. Gu Shenwei looked a little hesitant and called out to him just as he neared the entrance of the tent. “Hold on,” he said.
Shangguan Fei immediately hurried over, saying, “What would you have me do, Dragon King?”
The Dragon King still looked hesitant, as if thinking whether he should trust Shangguan Fei.
The younger man waited patiently.
“If Shangguan Hong was bribed by the Golden Roc Fort, how do I know that you’re loyal to me?”
Shangguan Fei smiled bitterly as replied, “Can I be the same as him, Dragon King? My sister and I secretly learned Wayless Qigong – it’s a big taboo in the Stone Castle. Even if Fa– the Supreme King decides to let somebody off the hook, it wouldn’t be me. Furthermore, Third Brother has already been crowned king; the rest of us siblings are now useless to him. How could I not understand that? Even if the Supreme King personally promises me that I’m pardoned, I’ll never dare to believe it.”
“That’s right,” replied the Dragon King as he nodded slowly; he seemed to have finally trusted Shangguan Hong. “Will you be willing to do another thing for me?”
The tasks given to him by the Dragon King all had an element of danger in them. Shangguan Fei could only force himself to reply, “I’ll be willing to go to any depths for you.”
The Dragon King hesitated again before making his decision. “Well, I want to make use of Shangguan Hong to pass some intelligence to the Commander of the Golden Roc Fort army, Shangguan Jianyi. However, someone has to pass Shangguan Hong that piece of information first,” he said.
The task seemed to be pretty harmless and Shangguan Fei became more eager to undertake it. He immediately made his stance known, “Leave it to me. Shangguan Hong is a fool, and it’ll be easy to trick him.”
“It’ll be easy to trick him but not Shangguan Jianyi. Therefore it has to be perfect,” said the Dragon King.
“Yes, yes. Tell me how I should go about doing it, Dragon King. I’ll follow your instructions.”
Gu Shenwei did not reveal his entire plan immediately. “Tomorrow, I’ll summon the both of you to go with me to inspect our supply depot. About 15 kilometers from there is a spot known as the Wildboar Slope. Once we’re there, you’re to find an excuse to break off and tell what you see to Shangguan Hong. Just don’t let him realize that you’re purposely leaking the secret to him.”
Shangguan Fei was all smiles; no part of their plan was fake. He admitted to himself that he was no match for the Dragon King when it came to plotting and scheming; as such, he was full of admiration for Gu Shenwei.
Not long after Shangguan Fei left, Shangguan Hong came sneaking to his tent for an audience as well; it seemed pre-planned by the siblings. “Dragon King, Shangguan Fei is not to be trusted, don’t be fooled by him,” he said.
“Oh, why so?” Gu Shenwei asked. When speaking to Shangguan Fei, he was hesitant, but he was indifferent toward Shangguan Hong.
“Well, I met Xu Yanwei before coming to see you, Dragon King. She told me something,” replied Shangguan Hong nervously. The Dragon King nodded, seemingly not minding. Only then did he continue on, “There’s something unusual about the fact that the five assassins were planted in the palace last year.”
The Dragon King did not seem to be interested in this piece of news, making Shangguan Hong uneasy. He hastened the pace of his speech, “Dugu Xian is spreading the news that you were attacked, Dragon King. Now, it’s spread throughout the entire Western Region and the five assassins would definitely have had no reason not to know about it too. They remain in the palace because they hadn’t received an order to retreat. Such a low-level mistake would never have come from the Supreme King or the Whiterobe Academy. But again, other than the Supreme King, who could have controlled the movements of the five assassins?”
“Lady Meng,” Shangguan Hong answered his own question after a little pause. “When Shangguan Fei arrived to take part in the contest for the Princess’ hand, Lady Meng still had some power and could have secretly sent killers to the Stone Kingdom. When something happened here, she was already not in favor and had lost control over the five assassins. That is, up until Shangguan Fei appeared again…”
Shangguan Hong did not have to elaborate further. He looked expectantly at the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei raised his head and repeated what he said to Shangguan Fei to his brother. “I know those things that you’ve just said to me. I have a plan and I would maybe require your help to execute it.”