Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The residual effect caused by the disturbance in the slums had not completely ended, the entire area was blocked off by a wooden fence. Large numbers of cavalrymen kept watch outside, and tens of thousands of people had been fenced up for an entire day thus their emotions grew increasingly unstable, and many small-scale acts of resistance broke out.
While the North Court was hesitated to act, many other parties debated endlessly about the issue.
The slums were like warts that had become part of the royal court system over time. Without the residents of the slums to do their dirty work, the comfort in which the nobles lived would diminish drastically, this became more evident the longer the blockade continued.
The symptoms of Qigong Deviation were completely gone from Shangguan Fei but he still rode unsteadily on his horse, bending over like a shrimp, as if not to have recovered from dire illness. He patted himself on the chest as he looked at the slums, only separated by a wall. “What luck. I was nearly trapped inside there. I can’t listen to Han Xuan and Han Fen ever again,” he said.
It was early morning and dozens of people were snaking through the Craftsmen District to pay Taoist Yu a visit outside the city walls.
Taoist Yu was the teacher of the royal family of the Naihang Tribe but did not reside in the royal court. Instead, he had set up his quarters in a quiet spot half a day’s journey away from the city.
Shangguan Fei though looking weakened, was still very talkative and kept looking back, saying to Long Fanyun, “Do you see that? We’re being followed.”
The swordsman only grunted and spurred his horse on, leaving Shangguan Fei behind.
Shangguan Fei rode up to the Dragon King and asked softly, “Can we handle the situation with just so little people?”
Gu Shenwei had only brought about eight guards with him as he was not worried about being ambushed during this trip. “It’s alright. If we really find things hard to handle, we’ll just hand you over and we’ll be fine.” He replied.
Shangguan Fei nearly dropped off his horse upon hearing that. “Don’t scare me, Dragon King. I’m extremely weak now and in risk of facing Qigong Deviation anytime,” he replied, before looking behind again. “Did I really kill a prince of the North Court?” he continued.
“That seems about right,” replied Gu Shenwei. He’d already told Fang Wenshi to check things over and the deceased was without a doubt a prince despite his insides being shattered. He had brought along guards, but they did not expect that the young man, who was panicking, could kill their master with just one punch and when they came to their senses and wanted to take revenge for their dead master, the killer was already whisked away by his bodyguard.
“Why am I so unlucky,” lamented Shangguan Fei who was extremely troubled and gradually came to understand the reason for his bad luck, “It’s because of those two women. Dragon King, I’m not trying to bad mouth anyone, but the New Moon Hall is inauspicious and always brings bad luck along with it. You should be more careful.”
Shangguan Fei dared to badmouth the New Moon Hall becausetheLotus maid was not anywhere near them but even so, lowered his voice in fear that someone else would hear him.
Gu Shenwei could not be bothered with such an obvious attempt to sow discord.
There were a total of five people tailing them, and they did not put in much effort in covering their tracks. After the Dragon King and his retinue left the city, the five merged with another small group, forming a bigger group of 13 people. They still kept their distance from their targets, seeming as though their task was just to monitor the Dragon King’s tracks and did not appear to have any intention of attacking.
Shangguan Fei was still extremely terrified. The people following them were obviously from the North Court and could very well be subordinates of King Kuari, perhaps on the hunt for a particular ‘killer’.
He only turned happy upon meeting up with their first group of reinforcements, saying,”So you were prepared all this while, Dragon King.”
Shangguan Ru had set off much earlier with dozens of female soldiers from the Land of Fragrance and they were waiting at the pre-determined rendezvous point for the Dragon King. Old man Mu also with her, was originally hiding in a leather sack, but at that point, had already popped out and was horseback looking around.
“Sister, I thought… I’ll never see you again,” Shangguan Fei blurted out, trying to hold his tears in but to no avail. From a young age, aside from special moments, he was always her follower, and when he saw her, all the torment and suffering he had endured came gushing back, like a frequently bullied child who was finally reunited with his parents.
“What happened? Why did you experience Qigong Deviation for no good reason? You must have slacked off during practice and channeled your Internal Breath wrongly,” said Shangguan Ru. She sounded harsh, but in fact, she had hurried over upon hearing about her twin brother’s condition.
Shangguan Fei did not dare to elaborate on his suffering, it was obvious that he was expected to keep it a secret even though nobody told him to. The Dragon King, the Lotus maid and Old man Mu had all known why he experienced Qigong Deviation, but none of them explained it to Shangguan Ru either therefore he could not simply tell her the truth, and could only reply bitterly, “Yes, it’s all my fault.”
The trailing group increased the distance between them and made Shangguan Fei be a little more at ease.
They were joined by another person after riding for two more hours, Chu Nanping, who had been away for quite sometime. He rode an ordinary horse and nodded to the Dragon King, remaining silent, like as though usually.
Shangguan Fei was feeling particularly friendly now and greeted the young swordsman warmly, “Hey, Little Chu, how have you been? How do you maintain such a high level of cleanliness, as if you shower everyday?”
Chu Nanping muttered something, not bothering to reply him.
“Why is Little Chu like the Dragon King now? They’re getting colder,” said Shangguan Fei to himself, desperately looking for somebody to speak to.
Long Fanyun was farway, the Dragon King was always scaring him, and his sister liked to lecture him. As for the guards, they were all swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain and none of them liked to talk so after observing his party, Shangguan Fei’s gaze finally fell upon Old man Mu.
Old Man Mu also stared at him with a look of uncommon warmth, a vague grin on his wrinkly face, making him seem more evil than usual. Shangguan Fei got a shock and quickly turned his face away.
Previously in the Land of Fragrance, he had chosen to recognize Old man Mu as his master and called him ‘Master Shifu Granddad’ just to get his protection, but in truth Shangguan Fei would die before according to any of the short and ugly devil’s lewd requests. No matter how handsome Old man Mu used to be, he was now a wrinkly old fellow and looked very much different from Long Fanyun.
Shangguan Fei’s weird thoughts and desire to chat with somebody else soon dissipated as it neared noon, just as he saw the Lotus maid.
The Lotus maid, Han Xuan and Han Fen had set off two hours earlier to act as an advance scout team, making sure that the main body would not be entering an ambush.
Shangguan Fei was no longer afraid of the trailing party, the Lotus maid scared him even more, becoming even more silent than the other members of his party.
Soon, Taoist Yu’s temporary temple was in front of them.
Three huge tents were erected on a raised mound, a ring made up of dozens of smaller tents surrounding them. The entire campsite was nearly covered with fluttering streamers, and burning incense could be smelled even from a distance.
Dozens of devout pilgrims were tasked to clean up the camp grounds and did not pay any special attention to the Dragon King and his party. The camp was frequently visited by important officials and people of the North Court who brought many more people than these who had just arrived.
Three young Taoist priests came over to the group. One of them gave off a cough and was getting ready to begin asking questions when he suddenly spotted Old man Mu amongst them. The priest’s face immediately changed color as he blurted out, “Why are you here?”
“This is Yuqing Sect territory, and as the eldest disciple, I come as and when I wish,” replied Old man Mu with much conviction. He spurred his horse to the front of his group, shouting, “Fellow male junior apprentice! Taoist Yu! Little Wing! Come out quick, your elder male apprentice is here to see you, along with the Dragon King!”
The three Taoist priests looked embarrassed, while the other pilgrims minding the camp grounds felt rather unhappy about the commotion. One of them tried to shush Old man Mu down, but he lifted his finger to his lips, signaling for the pilgrim to keep quiet as well, before continuing to shout in an even louder voice, “Kid, come out to welcome the Dragon King quickly, or else I’ll tell everyone about your past…”
The ‘kid’ came out from the big middle tent. He was an elderly man with completely white hair who looked very immortal like. His robes floated around him and he wore a towering crown. Four young male attendants followed him, carrying a Ruyi scepter, horsetail duster, sword and calabash respectively.
Gu Shenwei had met many people who claimed to be immortal, but Taoist Yu’s type was the most superficial kind he had encountered. Many years of experience had taught him to be extra vigilant around such people.
Taoist Yu in fact, did not look very old and at most was over 40 years of age. He began by apologizing for this elder fellow male disciple, “Our sect has failed to discipline our students well thus we’ve produced such a rebellious student. Please don’t take it to heart, Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei led the others to dismount, leaving the guards to stand watch at the perimeter of the camp. He brought only the Lotus maid, the Shangguan twins and Chu Nanping along with him to exchange greetings with Taoist Yu.
Old Man Mu acted as if he was back to where he belonged and introduced both parties to each other. He then clapped his hands together and told everyone, “Alright, let’s go in for a good chat.”
After observing Taoist Yu, Gu Shenwei began to have an impression of him. He felt that the old man was a very ordinary Taoist priest and had earned the title of ‘the Immortal of the North Court’ not from his skill in medicine but by putting on a front. From his walking stance, Gu Shenwei guessed that he knew some basic kung fu and was probably not a master.
Gu Shenwei started to have increasing doubts about the Taoist priest. “How could such a person make Wildhorse’s kung fu increase by leaps and bounds within just one year, and why would he have an interest in the Death Scripture?” he thought.
When they reached the entrance to one of the smaller tents, Old man Mu stopped the others, saying, “Hehe, the Dragon King wishes to talk about private matters with my fellow male junior apprentice. Those that feel they have nothing to do with it should take a walk. Maybe pray to some deity or make a wish, I hear it’s very effective here.”
The Lotus maid was the first to leave, followed by Shangguan Ru and Chu Nanping. Shangguan Fei wanted to follow the Dragon King in, but was pushed away by Old man Mu. “I’m referring to you. Go seek protection from the three Supreme Deities. The fake immortal can only cure you after you’ve passed through the real ones.”
As for the four young attendants, Old man Mu pushed and shoved them out of the tent.
Only three people were left in the tent. Gu Shenwei and Taoist Yu sat facing each other, still trying to observe each other. Both of them remained silent, and it was Old man Mu, who sat in the middle, who directed the conversation. He started, “Fellow male junior apprentice, the Dragon King does not like people to beat around the bush with him. I think you should speak directly.”
“You’ve come from afar, Dragon King…”
Old man Mu interrupted his fellow apprentice just as he began speaking, “Sigh, stop pretending. I’ve told the Dragon King everything. You desire the Death Scripture, while he needs your help to cure Shangguan Fei. Both of you need each other, so let’s stop wasting each other’s time.”
Taoist Yu wanted to grin disdainfully but changed his mind immediately and stared at the Dragon King for a while before asking, “Is that so?”
Old man Mu was a little hasty, but it suited Gu Shenwei’s plan as he replied, “Right, the scripture is embedded in my mind. May I ask you, Taoist, about your medical skill?”
Taoist Yu stroked his beard and laughed saying, “You’re indeed forthcoming, Dragon King. I shall not continue bluffing then. Our sect has many skills, and all in all, we’re better in external-style kung fu. The Dajue Book of Swordcraft is the peak of that type of kung fu in the entire Western region and has been lost for generations. Who knew that it would resurface in jianghu with your help? Therefore, I want to see it. What about you, Dragon King? What ails you?”
“I’ve been plagued by problems of the heart.” The King replied.
“Problems of the heart?”
“Yes, doubts, to be exact.”
Gu Shenwei rose from his seat before he had even finished speaking and kicked Taoist Yu down to the ground with one foot. He placed his hand on the hilt of his saber, saying, “I want the real Taoist Yu to appear before me. As for this fake one, I’ll pass.”
Oldman Mu was even more surprised than the prone ‘Taoist Yu’, “Dragon King, he’s indeed my fellow male junior apprentice; I can’t be wrong about that.”
The white-haired Taoist priest shifted his body weight onto his right elbow and lifted his head to look at Gu Shenwei, a bitter smile on his face, asking, “Dragon King, who told you I’m fake?”
Gu Shenwei remained vigilant as he replied, “Old man Mu.”
The color on the faces of both ‘Taoist Yu’ and Old Man Mu immediately changed, they did not know how they had given themselves up.
