Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Full of doubts, Fang Wenshi didn’t know what to ask.
“Dragon King has kept Shangguan Yun in the camp of the Land of Fragrance?”
“It’s better to have him as a hostage than to have nothing.”
“Why not trade him for Shangguan Ru?”
“It will not work. The Unique King doesn’t care about the lives of the Shangguan family, neither Zhang Ji. So we can’t threaten them with Shangguan Yun.”
Fang Wenshi kept flipping his finger in front of his chest, “This is exactly the problem. First, it’s very suspicious for Shangguan Yun to come to the door himself. Second, what’s the use to keep him as a hostage if the Unique King and Zhang Ji don’t care about him at all? So it’s more suspicious. Third, does the Dragon King … care too much about Shangguan Ru?”
Fang Wenshi carefully put forward the third doubt. In his opinion, this was actually the core of all the troubles. If the Dragon King didn’t care about it, the Dragon Army would not be affected, no matter whose hands Shangguan Ru fell into.
Gu Shenwei understood the meaning of his counselor, and he had already thought of an answer, “She’s very important to stabilize the morale of the army of the Land of Fragrance, the Land of Fragrance is crucial to the Dragon Army, so she has to be alive.”
Fang Wenshi touched the taboo topic and withdrew in time. He didn’t want to continue arguing with the Dragon King, but in his mind, he still insisted on his original view that Shangguan Ru wasn’t irreplaceable. The Land of Fragrance could accept her meant they could accept another woman or man as their ruler.
“Anyway, Shangguan Yun’s behavior was strange. Does Dragon King really want to assassinate King Rizhu?”
“I won’t assassinate any nobles of the Norland unless I’m attacked.”
“What do we do then? Both King Kuari and King Rizhu want to use Dragon King to kill each other, we have to make a choice.”
“So before making a choice, I want to meet the Khan and find out what he is thinking. The Royal Court is in such a mess and he seems to ignore it, unless …”
After these days together, Fang Wenshi was finally able to catch up with the Dragon King’s thinking, he immediately guessed what he was going to say, “Unless the Khan is already dead?”
Gu Shenwei nodded. This had actually been a whim of his but it had become more and more reasonable as time went by. He had been in the Royal Court for some time but he had never seen the Khan himself and had only looked far away to see the carriage pass by.
“Impossible, that’s impossible.” Fang Wenshi shook his head, “This kind of thing cannot be kept secret. The lords are incompatible as fire and water and each of them can get close to the Khan. It’s impossible that they all keep it as a secret after knowing it.”
“This is just my guess. Anyway, I must see the Khan right away no matter he’s dead or alive.”
Fang Wenshi felt that the Dragon King was a little paranoid, so he reminded, “Has Dragon King ever thought of that Golden Roc Castle is actually waiting for you to meet the Khan in person and throw yourself into the snare? King Kuari is arranging a meeting, he can complete all the procedures within three days.”
“I can’t wait. I have to run ahead of my enemy. Even if it’s a trap, I have to get on top of it first.”
Fang Wenshi looked puzzledly at the Dragon King, wondering what he could gain by being so eager, “Is it because of … Shangguan Ru?”
“Hey, because that is my principle.”
The Dragon King’s tone suggested that he was going to end the topic, Fang Wenshi could only agree. He had understood the Dragon King’s temper that no one could persuade him to change his mind once he had determined to do something.
“It isn’t easy to handle this morning’s warrior contest with King Rizhu’s subordinates. The loser not only has to lose the treasured horse but also has to call oneself ‘bastard’.”
“Has the meeting been arranged?”
Fang Wenshi was also busy last night. He had gone to see King Rizhu on behalf of the Dragon King, hoping to meet with him in private before the tournament.
“It has been arranged. There are still two hours left, Dragon King can go now.”
Gu Shenwei’s meeting with King Rizhu was arranged as a chance encounter, which was witnessed by dozens of officials of the Norland as well as many more average people.
It was in the early morning at the noble district of the West of the Royal Court. The road was crowded with passers-by who were going to the suburbs to watch the warrior contest. Yesterday, King Kuari lost one saber and one sword, but today’s loser was going to be humiliated in public, which greatly intrigued the audience.
The entourage of King Rizhu and the Dragon King came from different directions and stirred up a flurry of excitement before they met. Many people stopped and thought they could enjoy foreplay. They knew nothing about the alliances amongst the nobles of the Royal Court and only wanted to see King Rizhu losing his temper.
The meeting on the road was short, and the result was unexpected and a great disappointment to the interested audience.
“Dragon King is an honored guest of the Norland and also a friend of the Naihang Tribe. We have some minor misunderstanding before, but now it has been explained. The kung fu competition will be held as usual, but the challenge is canceled. As for calling oneself ‘bastard’, it’s all my fart.”
King Rizhu canceled the awkward challenge like this, causing the catcalls of displeasure and sighs of disappointment.
In order not to hinder the passage of the road, the two groups of people proactively stepped aside. The camp of the Land of Fragrance was nearby, so King Rizhu was invited to watch the female soldiers perform shooting and then remained for a brief private talk with the Dragon King.
For the nobles of the Royal Court, the alliance of King Rizhu and the Dragon King had been an open secret. But it was not until this morning that the whole Royal Court realized that there had been a major change in the division of power of the ten kings. In the past, it was King Dari who competed with King Kuari but now the former was replaced with King Rizhu who had remained neutral for many years.
The warriors of King Rizhu set out ahead of time while the Dragon King’s warrior, Shangguan Fei, was still sitting in the tent, hoping for a miracle.
He had never been so busy. He had just removed the seal of the acupoints not long ago. After a busy night’s work, he didn’t even close his eyes, but now he was about to enter the kung fu competition field under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Although the challenge was lifted, he was still demanded to win the contest by the Dragon King.
“You have to be the champion of the warrior contest.” The Dragon King dropped the words, regardless of whether he was willing or unwilling, able or unable to do so.
Caught in the middle of a crowd of guards and entourage, Shangguan Fei didn’t have a chance to express his attitude to the Dragon King. It seemed that the kung fu competition today hadn’t been arranged in advance so he wasn’t sure he would win. In addition, the after effect of last night’s internal energy competition hadn’t completely disappeared, he felt like he could only exert half or so of his power.
The Dragon King had given him a pill, he held it in his hand but dared not to eat it.
Old Man Mu, who was unrecovered and lying on the bed next to him, became dispirited again for not being able to torture the old Taoist as he pleased. But his attitude toward Shangguan Fei was much friendlier than before, “That’s a good thing. The disciples of Waning Moon Hall use it to keep awake with life and vigor for several days straight.”
“And then what?” Knowing that this was a pill of Waning Moon Hall, Shangguan Fei became more unwilling to eat it.
“Then take a good rest. Give it to me if you don’t want it.” Old Man Mu licked his lips. The only thing he missed about Waning Moon Hall was the pills, so sweet and delicious that he could eat them for dinner.
Shangguan Fei handed the pill to Old Man Mu but suddenly retracted his arm and threw the pill in his own mouth. “Whatever, I’ve already had Qi deviation.”
“It’s really unreasonable of you to be afraid of killing people in an aboveboard manner.”
“I don’t have advanced kung fu skills like you, I might be the one to be killed.”
The guard outside was calling Shangguan Fei. The Dragon King and King Rizhu were still talking but they had to move out ahead of time too.
“The Dragon King doesn’t even go to the game but asks me to win.” Shangguan Fei complained, full of discontent, especially the one who saved him last night was Shangguan Yun instead of the Dragon King, which made him feel bitterly disappointed.
“Are you a toddler?” Old Man Mu said in surprise, then burst out laughing.
“No, it’s more or less support to me if the Dragon King is there.” Shangguan Fei was really in the same mood as a child, feeling that his performance had not been valued by his parents.
“Hey, your performance depends on your own kung fu level, it has nothing to do with other’s support.”
The guard outside called again, Shangguan Fei stood up and muttered, “You have better martial arts skills, of course, you would say so.”
“Do you want to learn it?”
Shangguan Fei had gone to the door before turning around upon hearing this, he appeared to be more puzzled than surprised. “You gotta be kidding me. You must be bored and have nothing to do.”
During his stay at the Land of Fragrance, Shangguan Fei had wholeheartedly wanted to worship Old Man Mu as his Master, hoping to use his power to protect himself. Unfortunately, Shangguan Fei, who had called ‘Master and Grandpa’ for more than a dozen times, had received nothing in the end.
“Who says I’m free? Even if I wanted to make fun of anyone, it wouldn’t be you.”
Shangguan Fei didn’t have much enthusiasm at the moment. After all, he didn’t want to learn kung fu but to find a backer in the first place, but Old Man Mu had now lost most of his power, who could still be considered as a kung fu expert, but wasn’t the ‘big tree’ in Shangguan Fei’s mind anymore.
“It’s hard to quench my thirst with water far away. Let’s wait until today’s fight is over.”
“Idiot, old man is very capable. Can’t I make you master it faster?”
Shangguan Fei was skeptical and said, “There are less than three hours before the kung fu competition starts.”
“Go out and tell them to wait a quarter of an hour, I’ll make you a top-ranked expert, and even a hundred warriors are no match for you.”
“How come you …” Shangguan Fei still had a lot of doubts in his mind but now he didn’t want to waste time, so he ran out of the tent to explain the situation to the guards.
Lying in bed, Old Man Mu thought that he was so stupid that he didn’t think of Shangguan Fei until now.
Shangguan Fei ran back in high spirits, “Master… Mu.”
“Just call me by my name.”
“Yes, Old Man Mu, let’s get started now.”
“No hurry. Although old man has sworn to the good girl to not kill again, I haven’t reached the point of becoming a Buddha or saint who would offer free help.”
“Heh heh, of course. You want the Daoless Divine Power, don’t you? Let me be an expert and defeat the other warriors. No, not tonight. I’ll pass it to you after I become the champion of the warrior contest.”
Shangguan Fei also knew how to bargain.
Old Man Mu stretched himself out and yawned, “That’s no hurry. Besides, I don’t want the Daoless Divine Power. Teach me the Three-in-One Power of the Dragon King.”
Shangguan Fei scratched his head, revealing a confused expression, “There are hidden dangers in this set of internal energy manual. Even I have got Qi deviation, do you still want to learn?”
“I have to try it myself and find out what the hidden danger is in order to help cure you.”
Shangguan Fei was overjoyed but became more dubious. Today’s Old Man Mu was like a different man, so friendly as if he had an ulterior motive.
Seeing that Shangguan Fei was still puzzled, Old Man Mu could only make it clear, “Idiot, don’t you realize it? The fists technique you have after mastering the Three-in-One Power is a heaven-made match with my Five Hole Punch. Once we master them all, who would be a match of you and me?”
Thinking of the heart-rending fist technique, Shangguan Fei’s heart trembled and he couldn’t tell whether he really wanted to learn it or not.
Outside several tents, Gu Shenwei was also beating around the bush in talking with King Rizhui, hoping to find evidence about whether the Khan was dead or alive.
