Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The torches around the tent instantly ignited like how the best killers sprang into action when their target was unprepared.
The giant tent had been completely reconstructed, and there was no longer any trace of the banquet. The tent, which could hold hundreds of people, was empty. There was a newly-built platform in the innermost section of the tent which had five steps. Purple drapes hung from the ceiling, and there seemed to be a large bed hidden behind it.
One of the close slave girls of the Khan was standing on the first step and coldly looking at the Dragon King.
The torches were lit but the one who had kindled them remained unseen.
Gu Shenwei slowly walked forward.
The slave girl again asked, “Please choose a name, Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei stopped when he was ten steps away. “Please call the Khan out so that we can talk.”
“The Dragon King should choose a name first,” insisted the slave girl.
Gu Shenwei started moving forward again, which caused the slave girl to turn a little flustered. “Please stop, Dragon King.”
There was no response. The Dragon King had already come up to her. The slave girl suddenly tore off her loose clothes and waved her left hand across the air while revealing her breasts.
Gu Shenwei didn’t care about either the visible or invisible weapons. He gently blew out, the invisible knockout powder flying back towards its owner and the visible breasts slowly falling.
There was no pause in his steps.
With a gentle tug, the drapery drooped down like quicksand. And for a moment, Gu Shenwei’s right hand’s yearning for the hilt reached its zenith as if danger were imminent.
It was a false alarm. The scene in front of him was frightening but not dangerous.
There was indeed a bed behind the curtains. Although it was not as large as one might imagine, it was wide enough for six or seven people to lie down side by side.
Four nearly-naked slave girls sat on the bed with a yellow copper plate in the middle. On top of the plate was a slightly raised head with closed eyes and a blank open mouth.
The slave girls looked at the Dragon King with blood on their mouths and faces.
“The Dragon King has not yet given the Khan a name,” said one of the slave girls. Then the four of them glanced at the head on the plate at the same time.
Gu Shenwei also looked at the head. “I don’t think that he can hear me.”
A slave girl raised her right hand and shook it over the head, replying, “The soul has just arrived. He can hear everything in the tent.”
“His power is also not entirely lost. We swallowed it so now it is ours.”
“I can feel him struggling in my stomach, but this time he won’t be able to torture us anymore.”
Gu Shenwei had seen deaths far more terrible than this, but none of them had disturbed him in the same way as these slave girls’ words. They spoke in a relax and casual manner as if what they had done was normal.
Without speaking anymore, he looked across the bed, moved to the opposite side of the bed, lifted the bedclothes, and saw the mutilated corpse. But there was no sign of the posthumous edicts.
He was still a little too late.
“Where is she?” Gu Shenwei went off the stage and softly asked.
The slave girls exchanged a glance and did nothing to stop him from beginning to end. “She’s waiting for us to complete the ritual and become one of the sisters.”
Gu Shenwei couldn’t exactly describe what he was feeling. It was a combination of resentment, sympathy and a little bit of anger. The five slave girls were descendants of the enemies of the Khan, who had been sent here to let him vent his desire and hatred. They had finally avenged themselves but still couldn’t escape from their fate of being used.
And this time they had been used more thoroughly and had lost almost all of their humanity.
Gu Shenwei turned back and saw her.
“You won’t choose a name after all.”
Lotus appeared without a sound as usual.
“That’s meaningless.” Gu Shenwei tried his best to feel her emotions, hoping to find something warm in them.
But Lotus was like a statue made of metal which deflected all his probes. No one knew whether the inside of the shell was empty or full, cool or warm.
“Right, it’s pointless. It’s just a wishful thought of mine. Forget it.”
“Hmm.”
“You knew it was me since long ago?”
“Not long ago. Shangguan Yun guessed that you had the ability to make big moves in the Royal Court, but he doesn’t know much about you. I added a little speculation myself.”
“That coward was quick to react. He thought it would be safe to hide in your place, though I’ll let him off for now. The funny thing is, he has been trying to buy me over and at one point he thought he had succeeded.”
“There’s nothing funny about that. A lot of people are trying to buy you over.”
“King Rizhu, King Kuari, King Shengri, and even your Queen Ju.”
“They are all foolish.”
“Yeah. If I really could be bought over, why I choose the second best? The Khan was one of the most powerful men in the world and was more generous than others. Compared to him, Golden Roc Castle and the kings are just inexperienced little kids.”
“Let me see. The Khan had already sent someone to observe the situation as early as the seaside slope battle and was ready to invite me to the Norland. In this case… It was a year and a half ago while we were still in the Stone Kingdom that you had already decided to accept the bribe of the Khan.”
Lotus revealed a faint smile and shook her head. “You are mistaken. I didn’t accept a bribe.”
Gu Shenwei looked back at the head and the expressionless female slaves on the bed and said, “Excuse my foolishness. You decided to manipulate the Khan a year and a half ago.”
Lotus nodded. “I sent several of my disciples here and thought that this would be a very difficult maneuver but it turned out to be easy. The Khan was infatuated with women. In order to keep himself as strong as a young man, he was willing to pay any price, even the price of his ‘longevity.’”
“I’ve never heard of any female masters around the Khan.”
Lotus smiled again. “The killer likes the darkness and will walk in the shadows even at night. How can I let my people appear before the Khan? He’s the Lord of the Prairie and also a master at balancing the powers of different forces. Even for the court jesters under him, he would make them envy each other and compete for his favor, never letting any of them alone win all his favor.”
“No wonder I haven’t seen Han Fen before. She’s been in the Norland this whole time.”
“Yeah, Han Fen is very loyal and worthy of my trust. With her help, these five slave girls won the favor of the Khan.”
Han Fen was skilled in a set of finger techniques called the Delightful Touches which could even fascinate Gu Shenwei for three days to the point that he was almost unable to extricate himself, let alone the Khan who was almost defenseless and had a strong lustful nature.
Lotus raised her left hand. It was a simple gesture but appeared quite dignified as if she was already the owner of this place.
Han Fen walked in with a happy smile on her face. “How are you, Dragon King?”
“I’m good; you are good. We are all good.”
Han Fen nodded earnestly. Gu Shenwei found his sarcasm to be redundant. Han Fen always faithfully followed her orders and never thought about or tried to understand the outcome. She had never meant to hide it. Whenever the Dragon King asked, she would tell the truth. It was just that Gu Shenwei had never thought that Han Fen, who was as simple as a baby, had taken on such an important task.
The four slave girls on the bed knelt to Han Fen instead of Lotus, their eyes filled with unspeakable reverence as if they were about to be moved to tears by simply looking at her.
Gu Shenwei had taken their ‘she’ to be Lotus, but the slave girls’ answer actually been directed towards Han Fen.
He could guess what had happened next. The five slave girls had become the favorites of the Khan but their status was even lower than the eunuchs and therefore, hadn’t been noticed by any forces.
The Khan attributed his sexual ability to the masters and his hatred towards the enemy, and had never guarded against these five playthings on his bed, and thus known nothing about Han Fen who was hiding behind the five.
Han Fen could disguise herself as a court lady. She didn’t have to be the one who recommended the secret arts of the Waning Moon Hall to the Khan and induced him to invite the Dragon King. There were other disciples of the Waning Moon Hall who were responsible for enticing the nobles and having them make the suggestion to the Khan.
The Royal Court is a man’s world and what the kings guarded against were also men. The Dragon King who had only brought some dozens of people with him, received their full attention while the women were neglected. Lotus had benefited a lot from the situation. Many had tried to buy her off, but no one had valued her properly.
Lotus continued, “You are the Dragon King, and yet you can’t imagine know how many women hate the men around them in the world. The Waning Moon Hall has expended all of its energy on looking for suitable baby girls to train, have them kill, and then drive them mad. In fact, the whole world is filled with women’s hatred and madness, and there’s no need to deliberately cultivate them. See, Han Fen has done precisely that. She has taken on five outstanding disciples. Although they are still weak and not a match for even your pinky finger, they can easily kill the Khan when you had to take a great risk in sneaking over here. So what is power? Martial arts is just a form of power. Waning Moon Hall has actually taken the wrong path by focusing on practicing kung fu instead of fully exploiting its own advantages.”
Lotus’s expression remained cold but she was apparently feeling more talkative than usual. Her desire to talk prevailed over her natural disposition, not to mention that the one standing in front of her was the only audience she cared about.
“So, turns out the Waning Moon Hall’s ambition is more than just Golden Roc Castle and Jade City.”
“It’s a stupid ambition. A broken castle and a dirty city; what’s there that’s worth fight for?”
Gu Shenwei nodded in agreement. “What’s next in your plan?”
“King Rizhu and King Kuari thought that the decisive battle between them had been approved by the Khan. But the kings who watching the battle will receive a secret order issued by the Khan before his death, which says that whoever can wipe out the two will be the new heir of the Khan. Every king will think that the order he received is unique, so the Royal Court will fall into a chaotic melee.”
“Developing your own force in the ruins. Not a bad plan.”
“Not bad, but not good enough. Men will ride roughshod over women whenever they have a chance. Why would I develop a new force? Just let the war burn across the prairie and spread to the Central Plains and the Western Regions. When most of the men are dead, then women will control the world.”
“You are insane.” Gu Shenwei finally told the truth in his heart.
Lotus smiled and replied, “I’m not insane. I won’t let all the men die out. I have to keep some for reproduction, just not too many. Look at the Khan; he got dozens of women pregnant and had more than a hundred children. That’s the wish of all men, right? So, reducing the number of men is good for both sides.”
Gu Shenwei had guessed at the grand plan behind Lotus’s many actions but he had never imagined that she had such a crazy idea in her mind.
“You won’t succeed.”
“You don’t know till you try, and if you help me, the chances of success will increase greatly.”
“I am a man too.”
“You’re a man of value and are worth keeping alive. There’s not much risk in my plan, and we will always be behind the scenes, enjoying the benefits of the shadows. There’s no need to reveal ourselves even if all goes well.”
There was a flash of enthusiasm in Lotus’s eyes, which stood in stark contrast to her cool plan.
Gu Shenwei kept silent for a moment before asking, “What about Han Wuxian? Does the Hall Leader agree with your plan?”
Lotus was also silent for a while, then replied, “It doesn’t matter whether she agrees or not. But as long as you hand her over, I’ll give back all your women.”
Gu Shenwei’s mouth corners turned slightly up, which was the closest he could get to a smile. After a long while, he had finally regained the initiative. He would never allow himself to be deceived a second time, especially not by Lotus.
