Translator: Henyee Editor: Henyee
Shangguan Fei forced himself to take a step forward, immediately drawing lots of attention from the crowd.
He was the Unique King’s son but he served the Dragon King. He had a strange but powerful kung fu skill, and had killed King Kuari’s ‘younger brother’ with it. All these factors added together had given him a reputation totally against his own will.
King Kuari showed his hatred that only an elder brother could have and glanced at Shangguan Fei. “I didn’t expect for the Dragon King to offer me such a big gift.”
The nobles all heard the hidden killing intent in his words and coldly looked at the Dragon King’s warrior as if he were a dead man walking.
Shangguan Fei’s heart was pounding wildly with fear and indignation. Just yesterday evening, he had heard that the man he had killed was not a royal child at all. King Kuari knew better than anyone, but now he was putting on airs.
‘This king is really good at framing others,’ thought Shangguan Fei, deeply aware of the pain from being wronged.
But he couldn’t afford to lose the game today, as the Dragon King had given him two reasons to win. “To cover the killing of his own brother, King Kuari will do anything to get rid of you. Instead of waiting for him to do it in secret, it’s better to openly accept the challenge in the warrior contest. The people of Norland respect this kind of thing. As long as you win, King Kuari will have no choice but to deal with you during the duel from now on.”
Shangguan Fei knew this, but he couldn’t toughen up. “King Kuari has numerous kung fu experts under him. I… I’m not their match.”
Gu Shenwei gave him another reason, “I’ve also started practicing the Three-in-One Power.”
Shangguan Fei nodded. He was there and had been tortured a bit.
“After practicing it for a few days, I think I have nearly perfected the training method.”
Shangguan Fei’s eyes brightened up, “The Dragon King has thought of a way to avoid the Qi deviation?”
“Hmm, why else would I practice it?”
Shangguan Fei wasn’t a credulous person, but he believed what the Dragon King had just said. “Dragon King, please save me.” Shangguan Fei’s knees softened and he nearly knelt down before he recalled that the Dragon King didn’t like people begging. So he put his hands on his thighs, barely remaining standing even though his body had already leaned over.
“It depends on your contribution.”
These were the two reasons why Shangguan Fei had to win today. He had to fight with his life on the line and win the favor of the Dragon King.
It was a dangerous move for Gu Shenwei, but there wasn’t much of a choice left for him. He couldn’t join the competition himself. Zhang Ji was right that it would only degrade his status as the Dragon King. As for others, Shangguan Ru and Old Man Mu were still missing; Lotus, Chu Nanping, and Long Fanyun had their own respective tasks and were all hiding; Han Fen was a pure killer, and most of her techniques were not suitable for a public competition, leaving only Shangguan Fei.
“One set?” Gu Shenwei asked. The letter of challenge he had sent was brief and had little detail.
King Kuari nodded with a smile. “The Dragon King can pick and take two weapons away from here if you win. If I win, I will take both the swords and the people.”
To the nobles, the ‘people’ that King Kuari wanted was Shangguan Fei, and only Gu Shenwei knew that it meant himself and Shangguan Shaomin.
The mission Shangguan Fei shouldered was much heavier than he had imagined.
It was King Kuari’s turn to call out his warrior. He didn’t give the order at once but waved to a man who was far away.
Shangguan Yun came over. He was also invited to watch the warrior contest, but his seat was quite remote. Like the Dragon King, his title of ‘Cloud King’ had not been acknowledged.
“What’re your majesty’s orders?” Shangguan Yun still wore his trademark smile, which, however, was destroyed by his slightly flattering tone and wasn’t as mysterious and confident as it used to be.
Shangguan Fei and his third brother didn’t have a close friendship, and neither did they have much contact in the past, but Shangguan Fei still felt some reverence towards this elder brother who had changed from a prisoner to the Cloud King. Now seeing Shangguan Yun speak in such a humble manner in front of the nobles, he couldn’t help but feel sympathy and bitterly disappointment.
Deep down, Shangguan Fei still regarded himself as the ninth young master of Golden Roc Castle.
Soon, his little bit of sympathy for his third brother would vanish.
“Who do you think I should send to join the fight?” King Kuari asked.
Shangguan Yun glanced at his younger brother as if he didn’t know him at all. “This guy’s internal energy is strange and powerful but his fist techniques, sabersmanship, and lightness skills are all mediocre. And he’s always timid in a fight. Your Majesty should send a master who is good at the saber or sword to fight him. As long as one avoids his fist, one can win easily.”
Shangguan Fei really wanted to hurl a torrent of abuse at Shangguan Yun. His elder brother had actually revealed all his weaknesses, leaving nothing to chance.
“Bie Yan.” King Kuari called out a name.
Shangguan Fei felt an ominous foreboding in his heart. He didn’t know who this Bie Yan was, but judging from the expressions of the nobles around, he knew the other side must be a well-known kung fu expert.
When Bie Yan came out to salute King Kuari, Shangguan Fei groaned in despair.
Unlike those kung fu experts from the Central Plains who hid in cloaks and used false names, Bie Yan was a native saberman of the Norland and didn’t have to cover himself.
Bie Yan was tall and stood head and shoulders above others even when bowing and saluting. What was rare was that he was extremely well-proportioned and didn’t have even a little bit of flab. He wasn’t quite handsome in appearance but looked tough and rather manly.
He was just like a dreamy image of a god in Shangguan Fei’s mind. He had noticed this person from the very beginning but didn’t expect that the other side would become his opponent.
Gu Shenwei had heard of this Bie Yan, and knew that he was one of the best-known kung fu experts of the Norland and had been crowned champion of the warrior contest three times. Even if half of the rumors were credible, Shangguan Fei would not be his match. Even the Dragon King himself might not have much chance of defeating him in a face to face competition.
The nobles were not in a hurry but the audience was a bit impatient. The call for the kung fu competition grew louder and louder until it finally reached King Kuari’s ears. “Let’s get started. You two are the first game and as such should not let the audience down. It’s actually easy to please them. As long as they see some blood, they will be satisfied.”
“Ahh?” Shangguan Fei felt his feet were no longer his own. “Shouldn’t we start with the rules? Like how we should not intend to harm each other.”
He had tried his best to speak loudly but his voice was as low as a whisper in the noise of the crowd, and he received no responses.
Bie Yan bowed and retreated. Shangguan Fei did not move. Gu Shenwei nudged him and whispered, “Delay for some time, and you will win.”
Shangguan Fei’s face immediately glowed like the reflection of the dying man. He hopefully stared into the Dragon King’s eyes. Seeing that the eyes were firm and sincere, Shangguan Fei suddenly felt confident and regained some strength. Although his body was still swaying slightly, he was able to take a step forwards now.
‘The Dragon King is full of tricks. He said I would win and I will definitely win.’ Shangguan Fei’s guesses were like bubbles forming in a pot of boiling water, scrambling to float upward from the bottom of his heart. ‘Poisoning, bribing, threatening, plotting, which trick will the Dragon King use?’
Under normal circumstances, the contestants should approach each other from different directions, but Shangguan Fei and Bie Yan had to walk up the same flight of stairs.
As he walked in the back, Shangguan Fei admired the figure of the man in front of him and felt that even Long Fanyun was outclassed. Meanwhile, he wondered what the Dragon King’s winning strategy was.
Under the stage, a large crowd of entourage and guards stood there. Seeing Bie Yan, they cheered in unison, and upon seeing Shangguan Fei behind him, they all curled their lips.
“I thought the Dragon King would join the fight himself.”
“Yeah, that’s what we were waiting for.”
“Who’s this guy? Why does he look like he’s on death row?”
The crowd chattered, stifling the confidence that Shangguan Fei had just mustered.
A guard forced his way through the crowd and handed over a weapon to Bie Yan. Shangguan Fei gasped at the sight of that weapon. It was a five foot long saber that matched its master’s height well. Similar to Long Fanyun’s long saber, it could be wielded and waved to keep the enemy at a distance of more than ten steps. How could he reach his opponent with his fists?
The Dragon King also had guards off to the stage. Someone came to Shangguan Fei and said something out loud, but Shangguan Fei didn’t hear it clearly. After being pushed forward a few steps, he found he also had a saber in his hand. It was a narrow saber of Golden Roc Castle, which looked like a needle compared to Bie Yan’s saber.
As they stood side by side at the entrance of the field, Shangguan Fei looked up at Bie Yan with the tender smile he was best at, hoping to gain a little affection. “Hi, I’m Shangguan Fei. Did you get King Kuari’s hint? He wants us alive, so let’s not play too hard, especially you…”
Bie Yan looked down at his opponent who had a strange grin on his face and gruffly spat several words out of his mouth in the language of the Norland.
Shangguan Fei’s heart skipped a beat. How could he delay the game without knowing what the other side had said? And … Bie Yan’s teeth were so ugly. Half of his teeth were black while the other half were yellow and uneven. Besides, it seemed that one or two were missing.
Long Fanyun became the No.1 man in Shangguan Fei’s heart again.
Someone pushed him from behind, Shangguan Fei entered the field first. He stumbled and almost fell. After he stood up straight, he recalled the game he had played in school for no reason.
At that time, he was still fighting with his sister for the title of ‘Ninth Gongzi’. During the class, he often called a servant to join the kung fu competition. Who could have thought that, a few years later, he was now the one being forced to call to play?
The crowd cheered loudly. Shangguan Fei moved forward with his head lowered, knowing that the enthusiasm had nothing to do with him.
The kung fu competition field was quite large, in the shape of a square with each side being about fifty paces long, the boundary of which was a thin human wall formed by soldiers from the Norland. Most of the crowd were herdsmen. Many people simply stood on horseback as they shouted with excitement.
And their voices quickly converged into the clear words ‘Bie Yan.’ It turned out the name was pronounced the same way in different languages. Shangguan Fei didn’t understand why he kept thinking about all these useless things, as the most important thing for him at present was to delay the game.
The referee was a nobleman whose task was simple. He would call out the titles of the players and then the names before retreating out of the field and blending into the crowd.
As for the criteria of victory or defeat, it was much simpler. The game would not end until one of them either conceded defeat or fell to the ground. There was no draw. If both of them fell, the winner would be the one who stood up first. If both of them died, the winner would be the one who had fewer wounds.
“Wait.” Shangguan Fei stopped the referee who was about to leave the field. “I have a question. Bie Yan can’t speak the language of the Central Plains, so what if he admits defeat and I don’t get it?”
The umpire snorted contemptuously and said ‘I give up’ in the language of the Norland. “Now you understand?”
“Hmm, I got it. Hold on, I have another question …”
Shangguan Fei took ahold of the umpire while looking up at the nobles’ viewing area, waiting for the Dragon King’s signal to start the competition.
Gu Shenwei was also waiting for the signal.
A guard walked to the Dragon King and nodded before withdrawing immediately.
Gu Shenwei turned to King Kuari and said in a low voice, “A man has claimed that King Kuari was planning a rebellion. Fortunately, he has fallen into my hands.”
King Kuari smiled with disdain, and replied, “It happens all the time. The Dragon King can deal with it however he pleases.”
Kuo Zhen was dead, and King Kuari didn’t believe that anyone could have enough evidence to accuse him.
“He’s a Golden Roc killer. He said he had been ordered to kill someone in the slums. Does King Kuari still remember him?”
King Kuari’s expression immediately changed. In his original plan, the one in charge of killing Kuo Zhen was exactly a Golden Roc killer, but the result was that Shangguan Fei had gotten to him first. But how could this killer have fallen into the Dragon King’s hand?
King Kuari abruptly turned his head to look at Shangguan Yun, who was also glancing at him in disbelief and astonishment.
