Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Most of King Riyao’s army was stationed on the western edge of the Royal Court, competing with the other kings for control of the ruins. Meanwhile, it also doubled as his first line of defense. Behind it were the camps of the Second Consort, the Dragon King, and his own, all of them equidistant from each other. By communicating through torches and horns, they could support each other at any time.
Tuosai believed that his camp was impregnable and refused the protection of the Dragon King. He had his own way of guarding against assassins. Since the assassins loved the darkness, he had ‘ordered’ for darkness to never fall.
So in the camp of Tuosai, the torches were lit all night long which made the night as bright as the day. And he would go so far as to make sure that all the torches in the main tent remained lit even on rainy days.
This move could not be said to be entirely useless. Gu Shenwei saw it as an insurmountable obstacle and also a test for the twenty young killers.
He and Hu Shining personally led the team and divided the killers into several groups with each group containing three to five people. They would sneak into the camp in batches, leave a mark at the farthest point they could reach, and then return safely without disturbing any of the sentries.
This wasn’t a foolproof drill. King Riyao’s guards would not spare any exposed killers and if anything happened, the Dragon King would also deny that the assassin had been one of his men.
The first few groups returned successfully. The last group, which Gu Shenwei joined in person, had five members and their leader was Nie Zeng.
This group was assigned the special task of checking the marks left by the previous groups. This meant that they had to repeat all the routes of the previous groups while going as far as possible.
Sneaking directly into a target area could be very risky and Gu Shenwei seldom resorted to such means. He preferred to having outside forces help him get in freely, such as following the Second Consort and sneaking into the palace. But sneaking into the target area was a basic skill of the killer and was always a choice when there was no other way, and also a skill of his that had never rusted.
Nie Zeng and those teenagers appeared quite mature and didn’t say a word the entire trip. Everyone knew where to be and also knew how to change the formation to ensure that there were no blind spots for the group when encountering complex road conditions.
The marks left by the previous groups of killers were simple such as a deep mark carved on one of the torches. The results were almost the same, and the group that went the farthest was still a stone’s throw from King Riyao’s bedchamber, which was surrounded by many tents so that one couldn’t even throw a secret weapon.
The torch was a threat to the killers but it wasn’t as effective as King Riyao Tuosai had expected it to be. The so-called ‘as bright as day’ was just a description because even if it really were daytime, there were still lots of shadows left to become a killers’ hideout.
The most direct threat was still people. The steady stream of patrolmen were the biggest obstacles keeping the killers at bay.
But even the best patrols had loopholes. The soldiers would eventually repeat their routes. As time went on, they would become more and more distracted until the patrols finally became a normal task and almost no one would spend any effort looking around. Sometimes even a living man would not be noticed as long as he stood completely still.
It would be very risky, of course, to rely on the fatigue and laxness of the soldiers on patrol. But with meticulous observation and enough patience, the risk could be minimized.
Gu Shenwei had planned and performed many assassinations in his life. And from the very first day, he had understood the fact that there was no perfect plan in the world but the good news was that there was also no target that wouldn’t make a mistake in the world.
A plan was like the red line of a map. One had to rely on it to find the direction and determine the strategy but when one really started walking, one had to adjust the route according to the actual terrain, which was based on experience and intuition and could never be planned in advance.
A good killer knew only how to find loopholes and exploit them. In this respect, the training instructor could only provide some limited help.
Nie Zeng had proved that he was a qualified killer leader. He successfully found the carved marks left by the previous groups of killers; now, he had to prove his excellence.
Gu Shenwei didn’t make any requests for the mission, it was entirely up to Nie Zeng to make decisions on the spot. Therefore, when the teenager was secretly approaching the bedchamber of King Riyao, he and three other killers closely followed behind.
It was always darkest right before dawn and also usually the most relaxed time for the patrol teams. Nie Zeng had chosen the right moment but the short distance still took them nearly half an hour to pass through undetected. The five killers were so close to the main tent now that they could even see a blurred sleeping figure in it.
The secure location was changing all the time, and the five killers could only stay for a very short period of time, which was enough to launch a quick assassination but not enough to observe for too long.
Nie Zeng didn’t move. For a moment, he seemed to really want to cut through the tent and rush in to kill King Riyao who he was not at all familiar with.
Gu Shenwei could even feel the sudden rise of nervousness of the three teenage killers.
At the last moment before the patrol soldiers appeared, Nie Zeng turned around to retreat.
It was the only accident of the night, and though it was fleeting and did not cause any trouble, Gu Shenwei still felt that it was necessary to correct.
Back in the Dragon Army camp, Hu Shining understood the Dragon King’s hint, who commented on the performance of each group of killers and left Nie Zeng alone.
Nie Zeng was Hu Shining’s proudest disciple but as a killer he also felt the most difficult to comment on. Gu Shenwei could feel the training instructor’s ambivalence. The teenager was so skillful with his saber techniques that even the picky instructor couldn’t find any fault but his expression wasn’t rarely correct.
A killer should always try to be inconspicuous. Although it was hard to do so it with the power expansion technique of Golden Roc Castle, concealing one’s spirit and killing aura were still mandatory lessons for the killer. As an excellent killer, it was actually one of the reasons why Gu Shenwei couldn’t get the attention he deserved when meeting with an outsider for the first time.
In Fang Wenshi’s view, this was a major flaw. So he had tried to instill in the Dragon King the art of hegemony over and over again in the hope of making him look a bit domineering but failed.
It was at this point that Nie Zeng appeared to differ from the killer. He was only sixteen years old but he already looked as determined as a martial hero who had gone through the vicissitudes of life. His heart was filled with roaring fire and his eyes occasionally flashed, revealing a dazzling light.
Gu Shenwei knew the name of the roaring fire because he himself also had one. It was hatred.
From Servant Yao to Lotus, Chu Yangjun to Chu Nanping, Tie Hanfeng to Tie Linglong, all of the bodyguards of Gu Shenwei had someone that they cared about die in the hands of the Dragon King. But these three people also somehow liked and were loyal to the Dragon King to varying degrees which offset or even surpassed the hatred.
But Nie Zeng was different. The Dragon King had spared him several times but he still only had hatred in his heart. The only reason he didn’t make a move was that he knew he couldn’t beat the Dragon King.
“Why did you stay a little longer just now?” Gu Shenwei asked, ready for a duel. His opponent, however, was not the narrow saber by Nie Zeng’s waist but the hatred in the teenager’s heart.
“I wanted everyone to feel the real assassination, lest they think it was just a game.” Nie Zeng couldn’t pretend to be obedient. He had tried very hard but just couldn’t do it.
“Do you think you are better than all of them?”
Nie Zeng didn’t utter a sound, obviously thought so.
Gu Shenwei ceded the right to teach to Hu Shining.
“You work harder and performed better than everyone else.” Hu Shining didn’t deny Nie Zeng’s excellence. “But do you think you can carry out the assassination alone?”
“Yes,” Nie Zeng blurted out but immediately added, “Under normal circumstances.”
“So you decide to be an average killer?”
“I was not refusing to cooperate with others. I just …”
“You just didn’t want them to take assassination as a game?”
“Hmm.”
“You’ve succeeded but you’ve lost their trust. From now on, when other killers work with you, they have to keep an eye on you just in case you have any whimsical ideas.”
Nie Zeng’s face darkened and his inner struggle revealed itself. In the end, he finally failed to control the impulse and said, “The Dragon King often works with those who he doesn’t trust but he has never made a mistake.”
Hu Shining, though always steady and calm, couldn’t help but frown. Nie Zeng behaved like an ordinary stubborn boy and didn’t have a killer’s temperament at all which greatly disappointed him.
But he couldn’t refute Nie Zeng’s words. As a strict training instructor, he had never inquired about the Dragon King’s affairs and would not make any arbitrary judgments about it.
Gu Shenwei knew that it was time to open his mouth again. He didn’t like doing this but he did not want to give up on the teenager in front of him. Nie Zeng had a lot of potential that deserved to be nurtured and he would become a real killer one day, which Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong could never achieve no matter how hard they tried.
“I’ve worked with a lot of people I don’t trust, including you.” Gu Shenwei was only a few years older than the teenager but his mentality was decades ahead. He even wondered whether the other side would be able to understand what he meant or not. “But I’ve never doubted the ability of my partner, and I will never use a mission to simply test you, for that would be contempt, an insult.”
Gu Shenwei still had a lot to say but he stopped. Nie Zeng seemed to not fully understand, so he could only rely on himself to comprehend this idea without anyone helping him.
“I won’t do it again,” Nie Zeng reluctantly promised, though he still seemed unconvinced at heart.
The teenager left. Hu Shining sighed. “He’s a very good candidate. It’s a pity…”
Nie Zeng believed that he could be a lone killer but the experienced Hu Shining knew that it was a dream that would never come true. Even people like the Dragon King and the Unique King had at least one guard behind their back. Acting alone meant risk, and risk meant a short life.
Gu Shenwei didn’t want to give up. He thought for a while and said, “Give him a special partner.”
“Who? It wouldn’t be the golden roc killers of the third young master would it? It’s very dangerous to hang out with them.”
The Dragon Army and the Golden Roc Castle had allied. Although both sides knew it was temporary, that had actually increased their mutual trust. Shangguan Yun was still under house arrest but he had called in his killers hidden in the Royal Court and ordered them to listen to the Dragon King’s commands.
Gu Shenwei hadn’t assigned many tasks to them yet.
“No, not a golden roc killer.” Gu Shenwei also thought that the two groups of killers should be completely isolated. He would arrange another killer for Nie Zeng, a killer that Nie Zeng couldn’t find any fault or even speak out against.
“Could it be her?” Hu Shining was surprised once again by the Dragon King’s fancy idea but felt that it might be a very good idea on second thought. “If Nie Zeng can survive through her hands, he’ll definitely become a top-notch killer.”
Nie Zeng, who had already returned to his living place, was still disdainful of the performance of his companions. He would never imagine that he was about to be partnered with a grandmotherly female killer.
