Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
That same night, the same rain aroused indignation in another swordsman’s heart. He walked out of his tent and with his ankles soaked in rainwater, and he went to the entry of another tent. Just as he was just about to speak, the rain stopped.
Liu Fangsheng couldn’t let go of the spite in his heart.
“Deng Yuanlei, get out here and talk to me.”
This seemingly amiable senior brother of his had not only fled by himself during a moment of crisis, but he had also taken the side of the fake Sect Leader Lu Mian. Liu Qingpu had subdued his resentment, but Liu Fangsheng couldn’t do the same.
Deng Yuanlei opened the tent flap and came out. It seemed like he hadn’t slept last night either, since he was still wearing neat clothes. Holding onto a sword scabbard in his left hand with a smile on his face, he raised his head and looked into the sky. “You picked the wrong time, junior brother. If you had come a while later, you wouldn’t have gotten soaked.
“Let’s find a spot and talk alone.” Liu Fangsheng suppressed his anger.
Deng Yuanlei looked around and asked, “Did Liu Qingpu send you? We have an agreement that before anyone finds the Khan’s head—”
“This has nothing to do with my father. That agreement is between him and Lu Mian. What’s between you and me is personal.”
“Haha, personal.” Deng Yuanlei sneered and led the way towards the outside of the camp. Liu Fangsheng caught up with him in a few strides and continued walking next to him side by side.
Three disciples of the Qingcheng Sect were on sentry duty and Liu Fangsheng asked them casually, “Did the Dragon King’s army leave yet?”
“They just left,” a disciple answered. The camp of the Qingcheng Sect was not far away from that of the Kongtong Sect’s, and in the bright moonlight after the rain, they could even vaguely see the other side and even hear the sound of the horse hooves made of the Dragon King’s army.
“Um, let’s go check it out.” Liu Fangsheng kept acting casually so that the disciples of the Qingcheng Sect would neither suspect his intentions nor report him to their Sect Leader Liu Qingpu.
Deng Yuanlei looked at his junior brother with an amused expression, and after walking for a while, he said, “You’re gaining martial arts world experience now, junior brother.”
“The most significant experience I’ve learned is that I should never trust a traitor whose smile is tinged with cruelty.”
The two took a short detour around a small hill to leave the line of sight of the few camps nearby.
Deng Yuanlei stopped smiling. “So I owe you an explanation.”
“Cowardliness, fear of death, betrayal of sect in exchange for fame. Do you have an explanation for all of these charges?”
Deng Yuanlei’s mouth twitched slightly, and then he resumed talking. “Those words couldn’t suit me better, but it was not your father that I betrayed. Five years ago, the surname of the Sect Leader of the Qingcheng Sect was Lu rather than Liu. The former Sect Leader Lu designated his eldest son as the new Sect Leader and your father Liu Qingpu was assigned to take care of and assist Lu’s orphan son. But what did your father do? He took the position of the Sect Leader for himself and exiled the two sons of the former Sect Leader Lu, but nobody in the entire Qingcheng Sect dared to say a single word, which was exactly what you’ve just talked about – ‘cowardliness, fear of death, betrayal of sect in exchange for fame.’”
“My father became the Sect Leader through his own strength.”
“For sure. Yet strength is comparative. Back then, the two sons of the former Sect Leader Lu hadn’t achieved much in their cultivation of our sect’s internal energy, so they didn’t dare participate in the kung fu competition for the position of Sect Leader, and had to leave the Qingcheng Sect and consequently struggle for survival in the martial arts world. But now, I guess that every dog has its day – ‘strength’ has changed.”
Liu Fangsheng whipped out his sword and shouted out, “All sophistry. Unsheathe your sword.”
“Heh-heh, it’s only been five years, and the usurper’s already settled himself in the position, believing that he’s the rightful Sect Leader.”
There was still a lot of martial arts world experience for Liu Fangsheng to learn. He had whipped out his sword first, but still failed to seize the initiative.
Deng Yuanlei struck out with several sword strikes and held the upper hand instantly, forcing Liu Fangsheng into retreating backwards continuously. He could even spare some time to speak, taunting, “Junior brother, there’s something I’ve always been too embarrassed to tell you – your swordsmanship sucks. Your real unique skill is actually the four words ‘son of Sect Leader.’ Go on, scream. The disciples of the Qingcheng Sect will come to your rescue in no time at all.”
Clenching his teeth, Liu Fangsheng knew that his adversary was intentionally trying to provoke him, but he was still unable to subdue his fury, which made his strikes even more disorderly as if they were living proof of the words “your swordsmanship sucks.” Realizing that there was such a considerable disparity between him and his senior brother, he felt mortified.
Deng Yuanlei sneered inwardly, knowing that it was not the swordsmanship but the experience and mentality of his junior brother that was too poor. He began to consider how to end this and thought that maybe it was a good chance to kill the son of the Sect Leader.
But abruptly, through a random glance, he saw a figure standing nearby. He forced his opponent back and leaped aside.
It was not until now that Liu Fangsheng noticed the third party. He blurted out, “Dragon King!”
Gu Shenwei had been watching for quite a while and commented, “Don’t be fooled by your senior brother. Your swordsmanship is fine.”
Liu Fangsheng blushed. The Dragon King was of a similar age as him, but much more worldly.
Deng Yuanlei sneered and asked, “Do you want to have the kung fu competition ahead of schedule, Dragon King?”
“I’ve never fought a defeated adversary. You two may continue.”
Deng Yuanlei had learned his lesson and did not trust the Dragon King at all. He said to Liu Fangsheng, “Junior brother, how about we take a break? The Dragon King’s very cunning. We shouldn’t let the fisherman profit from the struggle between the snipe and the clam.”
“No, this will be finished tonight.”
Deng Yuanlei slightly regretted provoking his junior brother so effectively that he had lost his sense of perspective.
Thus the two started fighting again, but the situation was completely different. Deng Yuanlei was deeply concerned – every time the Dragon King winked or moved his finger, he suspected that there was knockout powder flying at him, which hindered him and left him exhausted. On the contrary, Liu Fangsheng didn’t have much to worry about and fought more and more valiantly with a recovering confidence.
The swordsmanship of both of them were known its fast speed, which was similar to Liu Yuanpu’s style but completely different from that of Lu Mian. Gu Shenwei became more and more confused as he watched. Lu Mian’s swordsmanship is clearly not from the Qingcheng Sect, so where exactly did he learn it?
Deng Yuanlei realized that he couldn’t be as half-hearted any longer, or he would suffer an even uglier defeat. As long as the Dragon King didn’t intervene, he still had a chance to defeat his junior brother.
Compared to his junior brother, what gave Deng Yuanlei an advantage was his experience. He baited his opponent with a fake chance by intentionally losing his footing, which successfully tricked Liu Fangsheng into moving closer. Next, he would pass his sword to his left hand and stab his junior brother from an unexpected angle.
As long as the Dragon King didn’t intervene…
Deng Yuanlei intentionally picked a position facing the Dragon King to guard against him.
The Dragon King didn’t move, and didn’t even give a verbal warning. However, Deng Yuanlei had a feeling that something was not right. And it indeed wasn’t. After passing the sword to his left hand, he found that he could make no more moves.
He fell over into the water on the ground, watching his junior brother’s sword stabbing towards his chest.
The blade had entered his chest about an inch before Liu Fangsheng drew it back and said, “Not everybody’s as despicable as you.”
Gu Shenwei gave an inward sigh. He was too inexperienced with the mindset of the people of the Central Plains, which was why his plan had failed. He was hoping to have Liu Fangsheng kill Deng Yuanlei, gain his trust, and then extract intelligence from him. It seemed that he would have to find another way now.
Liu Fangsheng felt a sense of numbness in his leg and subconsciously tried to slap it with his hand, but his body softened involuntarily, and there was another numb feeling in his back. Then he realized that he had been hit and passed out.
Old Man Mu turned around and asked the Dragon King, “Are we really not killing them?”
“Not for now.”
Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda both came out from the grass a little further away, with an embarrassed look on their faces. The means of the people from the Western Regions were far from righteous: knockout powder, sneak attacks, they used it all, which made these temporary followers blush.
“He’s the only child of the Qingcheng Sect’s Leader. Maybe we should spare him,” Dog Butcher interceded on behalf of Liu Fangsheng.
“Put him aside, and keep him here for the time being.” Gu Shenwei walked in front of Deng Yuanlei and lowered his head to look at him.
Fan Yongda picked up Liu Fangsheng and left. Dog Butcher followed his sect nephew after hesitating for a while. He had a premonition that the Dragon King had something more else to do to Deng Yuanlei, and it was not going to be righteous and decent. And since this Deng Yuanlei was not someone worthy of his protection, he decided that he might as well keep him out of sight and out of mind.
Deng Yuanlei’s clothes was soaking wet after he had fallen into the rainwater, and he struggled to straighten his upper body, “I can’t believe that I failed miserably in an easy task. The Dragon King got me twice with knockout power.”
“I’ve got a lot more knockout power. But whether you’ll have the chance to be knocked out by it again in the future depends on your cooperation.”
Old Man Mu’s eyes lit up and he encouraged Deng Yuanlei in an undertone, “Be a man. A warrior would rather die than be humiliated. Don’t give in.”
Old Man Mu’s wrinkled old face was so close to him that Deng Yuanlei felt like he looked like a giant insect which sent a chill down his spine. He immediately said, “I hold no personal grudges against the Dragon King, and it’s not necessary for me to set myself against him.”
Old Man Mu moved a few steps away in disappointment.
“Did you and Lu Mian formulate a plan to usurp the position of the Sect Leader?” Gu Shenwei started his interrogation with a simple question.
Deng Yuanlei acted like a well-prepared student answering the teacher’s questions. His answer was quick and succinct, and even held a ghost of confidence. “I’ve always been in contact with Sect Leader Lu, and I’ve waited a long time for this day. My original plan was to state my stance in the last moment, but because of you… I had to do so ahead of schedule.”
“Where did Lu Mian learn his swordsmanship?”
“I know what you mean. Sect Leader Lu’s swordsmanship is very strange, isn’t it? To be honest, I was surprised too. Sect Leader Lu had never had a fixed abode in the past few years, and it was not until a year ago that he came to Luo Village. As far as I know, he’s never had a second Master.”
“Didn’t the Luo Family teach him swordsmanship?”
“The Luo Family? I don’t think so. Sect Leader Lu’s swordsmanship is different from that of the Luo Family’s – uh, but maybe they did – the Luo Family is very interested in collecting kung fu manuals of other sects, and maybe they gave some of them to Sect Leader Lu.”
Staring at him, Gu Shenwei raised his foot and stamped on his chest. “You should’ve done some homework before telling a lie.”
Dragon King’s cape was very wide and all Deng Yuanlei could see was a black shadow. This was the third time he had been captured by the Dragon King, and the last bit of his dignity disappeared with that stomp. “Stop. I’ll tell you. Sect Leader Lu did learn his swordsmanship from the Luo Family, and he promised me that he would teach me after he became the Sect Leader. He said that the people of the Luo Family didn’t want to practice the swordsmanship themselves yet they wanted to know its strength, which is why they taught him the swordsmanship.”
“And the name of the swordsmanship?”
“I really don’t know.” Then Deng Yuanlei suddenly remembered something. “But that woman. I can give you that woman.”
Gu Shenwei drew his foot back, surprised by the fact that that woman was involved with this issue. He was more indifferent than curious regarding the slave girl that the Khan had mentioned, as he hadn’t even sent anyone to find where she was hidden.
“Where’s she?”
“Right in the camp. Sect Leader Lu assigned two people to guard her. He ordered the guards to kill her immediately if anyone tried to rescue her. I can take you there. They won’t suspect me.”
“Open your mouth.”
Gu Shenwei tossed two pills into Deng Yuanlei’s mouth, “One of them is an antidote, and the other is poison. You know what to do.”
The knockout powder in Deng Yuanlei’s body was gradually detoxified, and he struggled to his feet over the wet ground. With the new poison in his body, he didn’t dare to play any tricks. “I understand. How do you… plan to get in there?”
“You don’t have to know that. Your job is to handle the two guards.”
“The fifth tent from the west.” Deng Yuanlei told them the location and returned to the camp.
Gu Shenwei didn’t bring Dog Butcher and Fan Yongda along with him. He and Old Man Mu snuck into the camp from another direction.
Old Man Mu entered the tent first. Seeing that nothing unusual had happened, Gu Shenwei followed him in. The two guards were already on the ground, and Deng Yuanlei was standing by the side of a figure. In an extremely low voice, he said, “It’s her.”
Holding his saber, Gu Shenwei had barely walked to the middle of the tent when the ground beneath his feet suddenly sank, and he started falling down. At the same time, Deng Yuanlei and the figure made their moves to prevent the Dragon King from leaping out.
Old Man Mu hesitated for a brief moment, and then followed the Dragon King and jumped down. This was the first time that he was trying to save someone voluntarily, and thus he and the Dragon King were trapped together.
This camp was built only a few days ago, and it was never in one the Royal Court’s important areas. The people in the camp, both the ones sleeping and the ones awake, all seemed very normal. Also, Gu Shenwei had been very careful with every step. Nobody could’ve anticipated that a hidden dungeon had been operating here for many years with a sophisticated security system.
