Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Even though the Golden Roc Fort’s camp outside the capital of the Stone Kingdom seemed peaceful, everyone in it was on high alert. They kept their sabers with them at all times and even left them unsheathed and close by so that it would be easier to strike when the time came.
The attendants who did not know kung fu were even more anxious and most of them went into hiding. They wished that the ground were softer so that they could dig a hole and hide in it. Everyone standing guard at their post was shaking terribly, so much so that it seemed no one would be able to hold a glass of water without spilling its contents out.
Shangguan Fei was seating in his tent. Like the guards, he had drawn his saber, and like the attendants, he was trembling. He was forced to take extraordinary measures as things had gone way south for him and he was in the worst possible situation currently.
He watched his remaining servants warily, secretly suspicious that everyone in the world wanted him dead.
He had given the order to break camp and begin the journey back to Jade City upon his arrival back from the royal palace, but it was not carried out. Most of the people in the camp remained where they were; it was as if the Ninth Young Master was invisible and his words muted.
He came to understand that his failure to become prince consort did not disrupt the Supreme King’s plot to kill him and put the blame on the Dragon King. He was well aware that the killers sent to this camp by his father were hiding somewhere nearby and waiting for the prime opportunity to strike.
He was in a state of extreme fear but could still think clearly. He knew that it was pointless to flee, as many eyes were watching him. He was sure that the arrows would come flying towards him even before he could escape from the camp.
Perhaps, the only option available to him could work out.
He had already sent out his killers and was waiting for them to come back with good news.
It was soon late night, the time when killers loved to roam.
The flap of his tent opened, and the figures who stepped in did not belong to those killers he had sent out. Even though they were dressed identically in black and wore masks as well, he could tell them apart at a glance.
There were a total of three of them, and they took up different positions around the young master, silently watching him. Shangguan Fei guessed that there were possibly more of them outside the tent.
His servant crumpled to the floor as he hugged his head. He even began sobbing softly.
Shangguan Fei forced himself to be strong and managed to squeeze out a stiff smile. “So, you’re moving against me now?” he asked.
The masked figures did not reply. Killing one’s master was inauspicious, even if the order came from the Supreme King. After a while, one of them spoke, “Please make a trip with us, Ninth Young Master.”
Shangguan Fei wanted to ask them where they were bringing him to but quickly came to understand where they would be going. “Where else could they bring me? My body has to be found in the city for my death to be blamed on the Dragon King,”he thought.
“I have a solution,” said Shangguan Fei. He felt that he could not maintain his composure for much longer and had to speak his mind as soon as he could. “You just wish to frame the Dragon King by falsely accusing him of killing someone from the Golden Roc Fort, don’t you? There’s an even better candidate than me to be the sacrificial lamb—my sister.”
“Why would the Dragon King kill me? He’s already become the princess’ fiance, hasn’t he? However, he has every reason to kill Shangguan Ru. He loves her and even had her soon-to-be husband murdered. Everyone knows that, so—”
He swept his gaze across the faces of the three killers. “He tried to force himself on her and killed her by accident. Isn’t it the perfect story? No one can point out a flaw in it, and the Golden Roc Fort can use it to stop the ceasefire as planned, thereby being able to launch an attack on the Great Snowmountain again,” he suggested.
An eager look was plastered all over his face, making him look like a child who had cleaned up his room on his own accord and who was excitedly telling his parents about his accomplishment. However, the masked figures were not his parents, and they remained unmoved. Shangguan Fei grew a little anxious as he continued, “There’s no benefit to be gained from killing me; once the lord comes to his senses, he’ll regret it and come looking for those that killed me. Besides, my mother would never let my murderer off.”
The three masked figures remained silent, but finally, they seemed to be convinced and retreated out of the tent.
Shangguan Fei let out a breath of air heavily. He felt that his legs had become as soft as jelly and he needed to sit down.
Another person came walking into his tent, and Shangguan Fei looked as if he had seen a ghost. He immediately stood up again, as if he had sat on a bed of pins. “You… what’re you doing here?”, he asked.
Shangguan Ru looked at her brother, a mixture of pity, disappointment, anger, doubt and detachment, feelings which she could not explain, churning within her heart. “You don’t even have the courage to kill me yourself, do you?” she questioned.
Shangguan Fei’s first reaction was denial, but could not find his tongue just as his mouth was open halfway. The three masked figures were not his executioners and possibly were not even killers. To begin with, it was a ploy by his sister to get him to speak.
He was ashamed and angry at the same time. He stared at his sister for a while before sobbing just like the slave paralyzed on the floor. “I’ve no choice, little sister. I’ve no choice. I’m afraid, too afraid. I don’t understand why Father would want to kill me. Forgive me! Besides, it was not my idea to kill you. It was Mother. Yes, her. She requested for you to follow me. She didn’t say it explicitly, but…”
Shangguan Ru did not need her brother to explain in detail. After receiving the Dragon King’s warning, she understood the entire conspiracy; she sent people to test her brother because she wanted to hear his confession at first hand.
Other than their mother, no one else could force her to come to the Stone Kingdom. In truth, she could not help her brother in any manner in his quest to become the prince consort; her only usefulness was that she could take her brother’s place as the sacrificial lamb.
This was the reality of life in the Stone Castle—siblings would kill each other and the sole survivor would take over the mantle of the Supreme King. She had seen through all of it a long time ago, but when this harsh reality was to be applied to her own life, she still could not help but feel a heart-wrenching pain inside.
“Do you think that Father would let you off just by acting in this way?” she asked softly. She felt her own hatred for her brother slowly dissipating; he was the weakling of the fort, and everything he did was nearly never of his own accord.
“I… I don’t know,” said Shangguan Fei blankly; he had stopped crying. He never dared to consider this possibility. “Mother… she would save me.”
“If she had the ability to save you, she would not have risked sending you here in the first place. Don’t you get it? She’s lost the favor of our father, and she no longer has the right to speak to him.”
Shangguan Fei shook his head violently, unwilling to admit this obvious truth. “Never, never, Mother would never lose the favor of Father, he likes her so much…”
His voice diminished until it almost disappeared. He was extremely clear that in the Stone Castle, nothing was forever, other than the stones.
“What should we do now?” Shangguan Fei asked. It was like when they were young, and he would blurt out the question to his sister without thinking.
“Escape,” Shangguan Ru replied. She was composed in front of her brother; it was pointless to be grieving or angry. He was of the same blood as her, and even if he was a scheming brother, she had to save him.
“How can we escape? Father’s killers are lying in wait outside,” he replied. He regretted coming back to the camp, but knew that it was equally unsafe to remain in the capital; after all, it had already become the territory of the Dragon King.
Someone outside the tent said softly, “We can make a move now, Tenth Young Master.”
Shangguan Ru turned and left the tent. Shangguan Fei hesitated for a while before following suit, and he turned to look at the trembling servant still lying on the floor when he reached the entrance of the tent. “You can leave with me,” he said.
The servant remained trembling and did not reply. He seemed to have been shocked out of his senses and did not even lift his head up. Shangguan Fei did not pay any heed to him again.
The chilly wind blowing outside the tent was starting to turn warm, and the endless night sky was filled with countless stars. Shangguan Fei could not help but shiver a little and followed closely behind his sister. He disliked darkness, especially when it was pitch black.
The three masked figures bowed to Shangguan Ru as a show of respect and retreated backward. Soon, they had disappeared amongst the tents.
“Why have they left?”, Shangguan Fei asked in a trembling voice. He wished to have as many people with him as possible at this juncture.
“They’re killers, and cannot leave with traitors against the lord.”
“I still have killers, they…”
Shangguan Fei suddenly remembered that he had sent his killers to assassinate his sister, but they had never returned.
“They could not find their target and have decided to not get involved any further in this matter. They’re never coming back to see you,” she replied.
Shangguan Fei had spent much effort in stirring up some courage within himself, but it was gone with the wind now. He had thought that his sister had some cunning plan up her sleeve, but it turned out to be just for the two of them to bash their way out of the camp. He wanted to return to his tent, where there was light. At least, if he was there, he could temporarily distance himself from the darkness outside.
“Let’s go, follow my lead,” Shangguan Ru said as she drew her weapon from its scabbard. It turned out to be a wooden saber.
Shangguan Fei’s faith in his sister was diminishing by the seconds; she could not even bring herself to kill. However, his feet moved of their own accord, and they gradually brought him further away from the brightly lit tent.
“Rather than feeling afraid myself, why not entrust my life to someone stronger,” he thought. It was this thought that made him cast away all his doubts and follow closely behind his sister.
Shangguan Ru was not sneaking out, but walking boldly and openly out of the camp.
No one came to stop them; it was as if everyone in the camp had gone missing all of a sudden.
Despite that, Shangguan Fei did not feel secure at all. He knew that many murderous killers were waiting for him in the dark.
When they were a few dozen steps away from the gate of the camp, his nightmare came true.
A few black figures dashed out from behind their tents and came rushing at the siblings from various directions.
Shangguan Ru struck her saber at her opponents. She made a sudden change of direction just as she began moving, and her saber hit the shoulder of the opponent on her left. Even though it did not have much killing power, it still knocked her opponent away.
Her feet did not stop moving, as she leaped around the tents. It was as if she was playing in the Stone Castle when she was young. Her lightness skills were top notch and she made frequent changes in direction, but Shangguan Fei managed to keep up. In a bid to ensure his own survival, he had stimulated all of his hidden potential in lightness skills.
Shangguan Ru did not seem to have a well-defined escape route and seemed to be probing different spots of the camp. Shangguan Fei soon caught on to her; she wanted to flush out all of the hidden killers.
Not everyone in the camp had received orders to kill the twins; less than 20 killers were trying to hem them in. The others remained hidden in their tents, contented to watch how things would unfold.
The killers chased closely after the twins, and after circling twice around the camp, there was finally a breach in their ranks. The siblings took their chance and rushed out of the camp.
Shangguan Ru had already prepared two good horses beforehand, and the twins leaped onto their mount and spurred them into a gallop.
The killers behind them were still chasing after them but did not seem to be putting too much effort into it. Shangguan Fei suddenly realized that they were riding towards the capital of the Stone Kingdom.
“We cannot enter the city,” shouted Shangguan Fei. He dared not reduce speed for fear of losing his sister. “It’s exactly what Father wants; for us to die near the Dragon King.”
Shangguan Ru did not reply, but she knew very clearly that under such circumstances, the Dragon King was very possibly the only person who did not want the twins dead.
As they neared the capital, its gate was suddenly flung open, but it was not to welcome the twins.
A column of people came riding quickly out of the gate, and its leader was the Dragon King himself.
Neither of the siblings knew that their Third Brother had already become the prince consort of the Xiaowan Kingdom and that in reality, a war had already begun between the Golden Roc Fort and the Great Snowmountain.
