Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
That gust of dust appeared near, but it was actually quite a distance away. It was likely just a random gust of whirlwind and nothing to do with Maid Lotus. Old Man Mu, however, was terrified and hid in the luggage bags.
“Good girl, come, get on the horse as well. Let’s run away quickly. This horse is plump and sturdy, it can withstand both our weights.”
Shangguan Ru was not afraid of Maid Lotus, but she did not want to see her either.
The relationship between the two of them was still awkward, and Dragon King was just one of the many reasons why.
Maid Lotus was one of the most trusted killers under the Tenth Young Master, yet as her subordinate, she had secretly stolen the Wayless Book and presented it to Golden Roc Fort’s nemesis, New Moon Hall. She was not the most unexpected traitor, but her actions made Shangguan Ru felt apologetic toward the Stone Castle and understood her father’s intentions in wanting to kill her off.
Shangguan Ru’s horse was just of a normal breed and it was no longer plump and strong after traveling in the Gobi desert for many days. By dusk, his pace was unsteady and he constantly lost his footing. It seemed like the horse would not endure for much longer.
They were no longer traveling in the wilderness, in front of them was endless marshland. Many of the pits were still dry as the rainy season had not arrived yet.
Shangguan Ru dismounted and unloaded the luggage, bags, and harness, before letting the beast go off. “Go, eat some grass and drink up on water, you are now free.”
Old Man Mu had yet to fully regain his Internal Strength and needed to rely on Shangguan Ru for protection. But he resisted the thought of criticizing her and said, “Good girl, aren’t you too kind? Letting go of the horse means you will have to carry me and walk from now on. Although I am small in size, I still weigh quite a bit, you know? What’s more, we are almost done with the dry food, the horse meat…”
“I have my ways.”
Shangguan Ru looked through the items in the luggage and threw away those that were not needed. She separated the remaining items into two bags, one was bigger than the other, then she took out her dagger and cut two slits at the bottom of the luggage that Old Man Mu was hiding in, and tightened the luggage opening with a thin rope tied to it. She held on to the thin rope and said, “Follow me, you can now walk on your own.”
Old Man Mu spread out his arms in the luggage, “Do you think I look good like this? You refuse to learn the Lightness Skill because the posture looks ugly. Do you not consider my feelings as well?”
Shangguan Ru picked up the bigger bag which held the tent and dry food, without saying a word, she tied it to Old Man Mu’s back. She said, “You have to do something too, you can’t just let me help you.”
With that, she carried the smaller bag, held the thin rope and walked into the swamp.
Old Man Mu managed to refrain from exploding. Like a top-heavy mushroom monster, he followed closely behind Shangguan Ru. But after falling a few times along the way, he started to complain, “Little girl, I think I was wrong about you. You are not as kind as I imagined.”
“Yeah.”
“I am an old man, you know! Plus, I am seriously ill right now, how can you abuse me? Wildhorse would never be like this. He’s very obedient and would not voice a single complaint even if I shit on his head.”
“Then learn from Wildhorse and stop nitpicking.”
Old Man Mu was lost for words. Wildhorse was willing to endure harsh treatment simply because he wished to learn extraordinary Kung Fu from him. But the tables had now turned and Old Man Mu would need to get on her good side and lie in order for this girl to learn his Kung Fu.
Fortunately, the sky soon darkened and Old Man Mu was able to get out of the luggage bag. He did not stumble and fall as often as before even though he was still carrying a big bag.
Neither of them knew the way. They only chose paths that were dry and tried not to leave tracks behind them.
It was not until after midnight that they stopped to rest at a marshland.
Old Man Mu slumped to the ground, panting hard. He did not even have the energy to complain. He finally managed to get his bearings when Shangguan Ru finished setting up the tent and was about to go to sleep. He said, “See? This is the disadvantage of not knowing Kung Fu, or if you are weak in Kung Fu. You tend to walk slower, unable to carry things, will be hunted down by others and need to constantly hide from them. I really don’t know how ordinary people live.”
“Now that you know, then you should not treat human lives like dirt in the future.”
“Yes, yes, good girl, you are right. I can now empathize with them. No wonder you let me carry such a big bag. You have good intentions, I…”
“Clang!” Something jumped out from the grass nearby. Old Man Mu was so badly frightened that he quickly rushed toward the tent. Just as half of his head had entered the tent, Shangguan Ru slapped him away. “Do not come in.”
Old Man Mu somersaulted away. He was beyond relieved when he realized it just was a wild boar passing that he did not mind Shangguan Ru’s brusque actions. “Scared me to death, I thought Maid Lotus had caught up with us.”
“I thought you are not afraid of anything. In fact, Maid Lotus…”, Shangguan Ru broke off midway, not knowing how to continue with her words. The Maid Lotus whom she knew was a fake persona, she knew nothing about the real Maid Lotus.
“It’s not her that I am afraid of.” Old Man Mu tried to explain himself. You could say anything you want about him, but cowardice was something that he could not accept. “The point is… She’s a disciple of New Moon Hall. You know about New Moon Hall, right?”
” I know a little about them.”
“I know all about them. They are definitely a group of crazy women. Even if you used to be normal, just one year inside will make you go crazy. Back in those days, why do you think I wanted to escape from New Moon Hall by any means possible? Find somewhere isolated and recover from my wounds? It’s because I didn’t want to end up a lunatic like them.”
Yet, Old Man Mu himself was nothing but a crazy devil in Shangguan Ru’s eyes. So she said, “Not Maid Lotus, she looks… quite normal.”
“You are blinded, and Dragon King is even more muddle-headed than you! Let me tell you, New Moon Hall trains their disciples by driving them mad at first, and the methods that they use – Forget it, you are too pure. You will go crazy if you hear about them. Then, they see who can control the craziness within them, and these people are accepted as real disciples. So when you see a disciple from New Moon Hall, the more normal she looks on the outside, the crazier she is on the inside and the higher level her Kung Fu will be. This Maid Lotus is not simple. If she is able to learn the highest level of the Seven Circles Kung Fu at such a young age, that must mean she is crazy on a whole other level. Gee, I really don’t know what Han Wuxian is thinking.”
Shangguan Ru did not refute Old Man Mu’s words. Years ago, she had also been captured by New Moon Hall and had seen their disciples before. It was exactly like what Old Man Mu said, many of them seemed like lunatics at first glance while the people who held a higher status and had more powerful Kung Fu skills seemed much more normal.
“Maid Lotus… Dragon King…” Shangguan Ru realized that she was worried for Slave Huan and quickly quieted down. He was now the Dragon King, and his wits and Kung Fu were far superior compared to ordinary people. There was no need for her to worry.
Old Man Mu did not notice the change in her voice and went on, “The Master of Xiaoyue Hall, Han Wuxian herself is an incurable lunatic. Her looks and temperament are like that of an immortal. But her thoughts are beyond our comprehension. Do you know how she wanted to make use of me back then?”
Old Man Mu was fuming mad and spat on the ground. Without waiting for the girl in the tent to ask, he went on vehemently, “She thought I possessed good bone structure, so she wanted all the women in New Moon Hall to sleep with me and conceive children. If it was a boy, they would dispose of the baby. Then they will take care of the young girls until they reached 10. They will be accepted as disciples if they were able to inherit the bone structure, but kill the rest who were not able to do so.”
Shangguan Ru listened on with horror, Golden Roc Fort also had many cruel training methods that were extreme, such as encouraging apprentices to kill each other, but they would not go so far as to lay hands on babies.
“You also feel that this is too much, don’t you?” Old Man Mu was resentful. “Using me as a breeding sow! Sure, I am a man, I don’t care about this. But… you have to let me have a choice, isn’t it? Not all disciples of New Moon Hall are pretty women like Han Wuxian or Maid Lotus. There are so many ugly women, not to mention, plenty of old women as well, and I am supposed to accept all of them as they come! I, Old Man Mu…”
“I want to sleep, so stop talking.” Shangguan Ru hurriedly stopped him from talking further. Old Man Mu was someone who spoke without a care, and it would only become more unbearable the more he went on.
“Alright, I won’t say no more. But you should not sleep. I have not yet taught you the Lightness Skills and Maid Lotus is right behind us. You better learn the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills, we are depending on this to save our lives.”
“I’m sleepy, let’s talk about it tomorrow.” Shangguan Ru was not interested in learning any type of kung fu, and she felt that the only life that needed saving was Old Man Mu’s.
Old Man Mu knew what would tick her off, so he did not rush her. He put his hands behind his back and said, “I am really worried for Dragon King. His Kung Fu, looks, and bone structure were comparable to me back then, about 70-80% similar. Since Han Wuxian is unable to catch me, I’m guessing she will settle for second best…”
Shangguan Ru walked out of the tent with a cold expression, holding the wooden saber. She said, “Once I master it, I will run away myself.”
Old Man Mu knew his scheme had succeeded and felt proud. He smiled and said, “It’s not important how many people can run away, the important thing here is that someone learns my unique art.”
Old Man Mu was a murderous devil who had reigned over the Western Region. People fawned over him wherever he went. But back when he was still trying to seek a Master Shifu to learn Kung Fu, he had bootlicked his Master Shifu every day. He would never forget how to pander to others, so it was not a hard feat using it on Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Ru obviously did not believe a word of his, she only wanted to shut him up by learning the Kung Fu, and stop him from mentioning Dragon King especially.
Only when she really began to practice the Kung Fu did she realize that this set of Kung Fu suited her well.
Unlike Old Man Mu’s Kung Fu that was either too cruel or ugly, Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills was mainly used to avoid the enemy’s attack and would not inflict any damage. The moves were also graceful and the pace and direction was often unexpected.
“This set of Lightness Skills was a life-saving trick that I used in my early years. Later on, I tend to use it less when it was mostly me killing others and no one was trying to kill me.”Old Man Mu gazed at Shangguan Ru’s lithe figure dodging attacks and could not help but let out a sigh. He was overcome by a strange feeling because his Master Shifu’s wife was the one who had taught him Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills. Shangguan Ru might not be as capable as her, but she vaguely resembled her in a way.
Old Man Mu shook his head and cleared his mind of useless thoughts, “Learn it well and use it now. You are definitely not Maid Lotus’ match, but if you use it unexpectedly, it may just save your life.”
Shangguan Ru spent about two hours learning the gist of it. She would need a few months’ time to perfect the skill. But she noticed a problem as well. “Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills requires light footsteps and Qi to spread throughout the whole body. In this case… I won’t be able to take you with me and escape.”
Old Man Mu grinned, “Good girl is kind-hearted indeed. You even thought about this. Even if you were to take me with you, we won’t be able to escape either. Subtle Shadow Lightness Skills works best in narrow places. You will definitely lose if you use this in a stretch of flat land with an opponent.”
Shangguan Ru knew that Old Man Mu had already prepared something else, so she did not bother asking and waited for him to bring it up.
Old Man Mu lowered his head and thought for a while, then he said, “You can’t just hide from her, it’s better if you can subdue her without injuring her. How about this? I will teach you one more set of acupoint technique.”
Old Man Mu had an innocent look on his face, but Shangguan Ru was certain that there was more to this set of acupoint technique, it was not simply used to subdue someone.
