Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Meng Mingshu had always had a high opinion of himself. Whether it was talent, wisdom or appearance, he considered himself the best and thus, the only worthy heir of the Meng family. Therefore, when he had conspired with the Dragon King to kill his fifth brother and big brother more than two years ago, he didn’t feel guilty at all. Instead, he had felt a sense of duty and believed that only by taking such a dangerous measure could he reverse the decline of the Meng family.
The business of the Meng family was booming, and the family fortune was growing ever larger. So the decline was not in any financial aspect. Rather, it was their relationship with Golden Roc Castle that was weakening day by day, and how the former relationship of allies had devolved into a purely master-servant relationship.
His father, Meng Yuzun, discovered this, so he had secretly practiced kung fu and even tried to raise his own team of killers. The result had been a fiasco that wasn’t helpful at turning the tables at all.
Meng Mingshu decided to use pursue another path of salvation. But when the matter came to a head, he found that he was not as calm and brave as he had expected. He was constantly in a fit of panic and Xiao Fengchai, who he needed the most, happened to not be around.
“The Unique King will kill me. How could he possibly be fooled by such a trick?” Meng Mingshu muttered, forgetting that someone else was still around him.
The old steward Duan Zihua stared at the young master sympathetically.
Because the goods he had been in charge of were stolen on the way here, Duan Zihua had been humiliated in the Bodhi Garden and was not even allowed to die as recompense. But ever since he had found out that the current ‘old master’ was probably a fake, he had shed his guilt and wholeheartedly joined in the plot to transfer the Meng family’s property.
As a loyal and calm man, Duan Zihua was familiar with the Meng family’s business and therefore, saw the immediate crisis more clearly. “Second Young Master, this is the only way out. It’s better to take a risk than wait for death.”
Meng Mingshu obviously understood this principle. “I’m just… I’m just wondering if there’s a safer and more subtle way to delay the Unique King’s suspicions toward me.”
Shangguan Fei, who had always despised the Meng family, thought that if he were the Unique King, he probably would have also eliminated this useless ally. But his present task was to make sure the Second Young Master Meng wouldn’t get cold feet. “Honestly speaking, transferring such a big sum of money will always arouse suspicion no matter how safe and subtle the means are. The Unique King will know that there’s a mole in the Meng family right away, and the first person he will suspect will definitely be you.”
Meng Mingshu trembled and his expression suddenly shifted. “No, I have to see the Dragon King. I have to discuss this with him.”
“Wait, I’m not finished speaking yet.” Shangguan Fei kept shaking his head in disappointment. Meng Mingshu belonged to his father’s generation, but he behaved like a naive child. “You have a ‘death-exemption plate’ and will not be killed no matter how heavily the Unique King doubts you.”
“Why?” Meng Mingshu asked puzzledly.
“You must have heard of the two rules that all golden roc killers obey, right?”
“Mmm.”
“Have you ever heard of the story of the widow who avenged her husband?”
“Yes. The woman and her son didn’t know kung fu so they promised to give away their wealth, which attracted hordes of avengers… Oh, I see. You’re saying that I am the ‘widow’ and that the Dragon King will use me as a pretext to fight with the Unique King for the Meng family’s property, right?”
“The ‘pretext’ is your ‘death-exemption plate.’ What are you afraid of with it by your side?”
Nonetheless, Meng Mingshu was still afraid because it meant that he was walking on a saber’s edge, and that he would even need to directly confront the Unique King for a while. “But when the Dragon King conquers Jade City, the Unique King will be rendered powerless. Will the Unique King kill me to vent his anger then?”
“You’ll have to trust the Dragon King on that. He’ll get you out before then.”
Duan Zihua had been listening listened and now asked for his master, “Can’t Second Young Master follow the caravan and leave now?”
Shangguan Fei shook his head before explaining, “First, if Second Young Master breaks with Golden Roc Castle now, he’ll no longer be a ‘pretext.’ To save face, the Unique King would have to kill him. Second, the Meng family has a large estate and dozens of family members in Jade City. It’s impossible to bring all of them away. As long as Second Young Master escapes, the Unique King will have an excuse to act ruthlessly. It’s better to leave him in a dilemma.”
Duan Zihua no longer spoke, and Meng Mingshu had also been persuaded. In fact, he knew the truth, but the comforting effect was always greater when it was spoken by others. So he clenched his fists and said, “That’s it then. The Meng family has been cornered and there’s no way out if we don’t take any risks.”
Shangguan Fei quietly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the Dragon King had really been wise to leave him to supervise Meng Mingshu. “Actually, it’s not that hard. Although the Unique King is cruel, he’d never act on impulse without due consideration. You see, I’m his son and I’ve followed the Dragon King for a long time, but I haven’t seen him send anyone to assassinate me.”
Meng Mingshu felt a bit relieved at those words, but Duan Zihua suddenly felt that something was amiss. Shangguan Fei was following them around, and so it was hard to avoid him. He could only directly ask, “Be careful, Second Young Master. Is the woman of the Retention Alley… trustworthy?”
In Duan Zihua’s eyes, the biggest flaw was that Xiao Fengchai was representing Meng Mingshu to manage all of the money.
Meng Mingshu stared at Duan Zihua and slowly said, “I trust her more than I trust you.” This was the only thing he was sure of in the whole scheme, and what he would not allow anyone to deny.
Duan Zihua dared not say any more. Shangguan Fei was all smiles, but he was actually thinking, ‘The heavens have abandoned the Meng family, and no one can help them anymore.’
To make the second young master of the Meng family a living ‘pretext,’ the basic premise was that Meng Yuzun, who was in the Bodhi Garden, must die regardless of whether he was a fake or not.
This task would be carried out by Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher.
Dog Butcher, who was taking part in an assassination for the first time in his life, looked very restless. Even the slightest noise outside would startle him, make him think that the plan had been leaked, and the enemy had come to attack them.
Old Man Mu found it very funny and, therefore, made all sorts of strange noises to startle Dog Butcher. When he did it for the fifteenth time, Dog Butcher, who could no longer bear it, got up and said, “No more.”
“What? Are you upset? I’m training your willpower. A good killer has to keep his mind as quiet as water. Although this old man is not from Golden Roc Castle, he knows…”
But what was on Dog Butcher’s mind had nothing to do with killers. “Is the man we are going to kill a bad guy?”
“How should I know?” Old Man Mu replied in surprise.
“No, I have to look into it. I want to wander in Jianghu, but that doesn’t mean that I will kill innocent people. The Dragon King is a good guy, but sometimes… he can’t tell the difference between good and evil.”
Old Man Mu’s temper flared up. He jumped on a chair, pointed at Dog Butcher, and scolded, “You good old dogs always get cold feet. Stop making excuses for your cowardness. The Dragon King can’t tell the difference between good and evil? Can you even tell me what is good and what is evil?”
Dog Butcher was at a loss what to say, and had to think for a while before saying, “What you did before is evil… What Marshal Yang did is good.”
Old Man Mu nodded. “Well said. Let me ask you this again. Are you and your sister good or evil?”
“Good,” Dog Butcher answered at once as if saying it even a bit slower would make him a bad person.
“Then that’s strange. How could you call yourself a good person if you haven’t done anything like what Marshal Yang has done, like helping those in danger, or relieving those in need?”
Mouth agape, Dog Butcher didn’t know how to reply. He had joined the Kongtong Sect at a young age, and had spent most of his life practicing martial art skills. Even after he had left the Kongtong Sect, he had only wandered from one famous sect to another. Everything had taken place under rules, and there was always someone to look after him. He indeed hadn’t done any chivalrous deeds so far. “But my sister and I haven’t done any evil deeds so far either. Right, doing no evil is the same as doing good.”
Old Man Mu nodded again. “I see. But I still want to ask you this: the Central Plains people have come to the Royal Court to kill and also to steal the head of the Khan. Are they doing evil?”
“Of course not. We are following the order from the Imperial Court…”
“You mean the Imperial Court of the Central Plains?”
“Mmm.”
“So the people loyal to the Imperial Court of the Central Plains are all inherently good and people like us from the Norland and the Western Regions are inherently evil? Because in our eyes, the Emperor of the Central Plains is nothing more than a fart in a windstorm.”
“How dare you?!” Dog Butcher angrily grabbed the hilt of his saber. Insulting the Emperor was tantamount to committing high treason in his eyes.
“That’s strange. Why are you able to snatch the Khan’s head, but I cannot even abuse the Emperor of the Central Plains’ name ? Shit, piss, fart, son of a bitch …”
Old Man Mu’s foul words came out thick and fast. Dog Butcher’s face turned pale, but he finally understood Old Man Mu’s point and anxiously waved his hand, saying, “Stop, stop. I am wrong. Please do not insult the Emperor anymore.”
“You are wrong?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know why you are wrong?”
“Everyone has their own lord to serve; thus, there’s no clear line between good and evil.”
“That’s right. In the Western Regions, your lord is the Dragon King. Kill whoever he asks you to kill and you are good. Otherwise, you are evil. As for Meng Yuzun, who cares if he’s good or evil.”
Frustrated, Dog Butcher didn’t know what to say. He felt that something was wrong with Old Man Mu’s words, but he couldn’t find a loophole.
Old Man Mu had won the battle of words and was in a very good mood. He comforted the other side, saying, “You can think of it this way. As the saying goes, the rich are all heartless. Meng Yuzun’s money is enough to crush an army, so he must be very cruel. And you are going to get rid of the cruel and pacify the good.”
“But this Meng Yuzun is a fake.”
“Isn’t it wicked enough to be cruel, rich and practice fraud? Then why don’t you just go kill the Unique King? He’s paid to kill others and never asks why. He’s definitely a villain.”
Dog Butcher had finally been convinced. “Okay, let’s go.”
“Do you really want to assassinate the Unique King? You go alone and I’ll tell your elder sister about your death. That means that I’ll have done another good deed.”
“No, let’s go kill Meng Yuzun.”
Old Man Mu was entertained, musing that if the good girl had been so easy to deceive, he would not have fallen into this miserable situation.
The two were just about to leave when Tie Linglong pushed the door open and glanced at them. Her eyes finally fell on Old Man Mu. “There’s something very strange going on. Could you help me look into it?”
Among them, Han Wuxian was still sniffing out the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall in Jade City like a hound. Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong had went out separately to spy on the people of the Central Plains in the Four Noble Truths Temple, and on the Heavenly Mountain Sect in the southern part of Jade City.
Luo Qibai’s death was a great blow to the people of the Central Plains. Nie Zeng had went out several times, but found nothing. It seemed that all the disciples of the major sects had fled from Jade City overnight.
Tie Linglong, however, had observed a strange behavior from the Heavenly Mountain Sect, “The Heavenly Mountain Sect has recruited a lot of sabermen in the past two days.”
“That’s quite normal,” Old Man Mu analyzed in earnest. “Many experts of the Heavenly Mountain Sect have died, so of course they will recruit new people.”
“But the salary is only fifty taels of silver a month.”
“It’s not bad in other places but in Jade City… It’s a bit too little.” Old Man Mu didn’t know the market very well.
“The hired sabermen all look like experts, but none of them bargained.”
Dog Butcher suddenly thought of something and interrupted their conversation. “Could they be golden roc killers who were asked to join the Heavenly Mountain Sect?”
Old Man Mu laughed at him loudly. “You are imagining things… Ehh, actually, it’s possible.”
The three of them were not good at identifying killers. Old Man Mu clapped his forehead and suggested, “Dog Butcher and I have a task to do. Little girl, you can go to Shangguan Fei and ask for help. He can help you find out the truth. Well, you’ve done a pretty good job already. What does the Heavenly Mountain Sect want to do? Are they also aiming at the Meng family’s property?”
