Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Nie Zeng was still in Shulitu’s army camp, Tie Linglong was focusing on her kung fu practice, Mo Lin had his own tasks, and most of the others had been assigned to Jade City. Thus, Gu Shenwei had no choice but to let Han Fen be his bodyguard.
Though Han Fen was merely a half-finished product in Han Wuxian’s eyes, she was still an outstanding killer. She had cooperated with the Dragon King previously, and her performance back then had been remarkable. However, she currently regarded herself as a prisoner, idler, and “crafty sycophant” instead of as a killer, which was why she had walked out after staying hidden for less than two hours.
Gu Shenwei could feel her walking back and forth right behind him, so he twisted his head around abruptly to look at her.
Han Fen was standing still now, in a stealthy posture as if she were transfixed. Her hands were also raised to her chest as if she were carrying a big bowl.
The two stared at each other in silence for a couple seconds as though they were both invisible. In the end, Gu Shenwei gave up since he didn’t want to compete in patience with a lunatic.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m guarding the Dragon King.” Han Fen didn’t move as single part of her body except for her mouth.
“You’re free to move.”
Han Fen returned to normal instantly and walked to the table with a smile on her face. Standing by the side of the Dragon King, Han Fen rested her chin in her hand and said, “This map is not good enough.”
“What’s wrong with it?”
“The painting skills suck. The lines are too rough and there’re too many blank areas.”
“Why were you pacing back and forth behind me?”
“Ah? I… was learning to walk.”
“You don’t know how to walk?”
“Ha-ha, of course I do. You’ve seen me walking around, Dragon King. I’m learning a new way to walk.”
“The original way isn’t good enough for you?”
“But walking is also a part of one’s disguise. Sometimes, the disguise is nearly perfect and there’re barely any flaws. But once we start walking, some people might immediately see through the disguise.”
Surprisingly, Han Fen’s remarks sounded fairly reasonable. Gu Shenwei looked at her curiously as he asked, “Are you trying to imitate Instructor Shangguan’s walking style?”
“Eek, how did you know?” Han Fen’s face was full of amazement. “I stopped practicing as soon as you turned your head, and yet you still identified the walk? It seems that I’ve made some progress.”
Actually, Gu Shenwei had just made a lucky guess. Han Fen had been carefully observing Shangguan Ru every time she met her. It was very clear what was constantly on Han Fen’s mind.
“Did Lotus order you to do this?” Gu Shenwei had every reason to suspect that the reason why Han Fen was so obsessed with imitating Shangguan Ru was for some subreasons.
Han Fen shook her head violently, “No, no. Master Commander seldom mentions Little Instructor to me. I’m doing this all of my own accord. I just want to know why Dragon King likes her, and once I figure it out, I’ll teach it to the Master Commander. With that, Master Commander will have both Instructor’s charm and her own charm. How will the Dragon King be able to resist her? Ha-ha.”
Han Fen simply understood things in a way different from that of others; she was not foolish. Additionally, she was also a terrible liar, so Gu Shenwei believed her. “You misunderstand, Han Fen.”
“Which part did I misunderstand?” Han Fen lowered her head and glanced at him a few times. “Oh, that’s because I’m being myself right now. I should act like little Instructor. Then you’ll see how much I resemble her.”
“No. I meant that you misunderstood Lotus… or Master Commander.”
“I misunderstood?”
“Mmm, Master Commander’s a proud woman, and she won’t try to imitate anybody else.”
“But Master Commander imitated the Dragon King. Sometimes you two act exactly like each other.”
“She didn’t try to imitate me. We used to practice the same swordsmanship together, and that swordsmanship — ”
“The Death Scripture, I know, I know. Master Commander said that this kung fu is evil and that she would never teach me.”
“She made the right choice. It was not that I imitated her or that she imitated me. Rather, it was the Death Scripture that made us similar to each other. The Death Scripture was also the reason why we became enemies. I killed someone who she cared about very much and she will never forget that, just like how I’ll never forget the death of my family. It is destined for the Master Commander and I to have a life-or-death fight, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Han Fen frowned, which was very rare for her. She then opened her mouth, but didn’t say a word, as if she were trying to understand the Dragon King’s remarks. She just stood there, breathing in through her open mouth without saying a single word.
Gu Shenwei felt that what he had said was cruel, but he didn’t want to give Han Fen any false hopes. She was a special woman who was highly like to become an enemy of him once disillusioned, and he didn’t want to kill her either.
Han Fen moved a chair close to her and sat down on it heavily, feeling lost. After contemplating his words for quite a while, she said, “But I don’t think that the Master Commander hates the Dragon King. Who is that man that she cares so much about? Can she care more about him than you?”
“That is the evil part of the Death Scripture. It engraves the hatred into your heart so deeply that even after you’ve forgotten the name of that person you used to love long ago, you can still feel the hatred as if it had just happened.”
The faces of his family members had already become vague memories for a long time, but every time he recalled their miserable deaths, especially his elder sister’s, Gu Shenwei still felt a cold numbness spread through his scalp. That coldness was as fresh as if they had died yesterday, right in front of him, so close that he could touch them just by stretching out his arms — but there was nothing he could have done. It was this very feeling that had motivated him to continue pursuing his path of seeking revenge.
Han Fen obviously couldn’t understand. She just felt disappointed, and mumbled, “But Master Commander…”
The sound of urgent footsteps came from outside.
Gu Shenwei stretched his hand out and grabbed his saber hilt. Han Fen, who had been confused just a moment ago, immediately jumped out of the chair and disappeared into the corner like a puff of smoke.
Shulitu raised the tent flap and rushed in hurriedly. Behind him, Nie Zeng was holding Tie Linglong, who was in a coma.
Gu Shenwei didn’t ask for anything. He roughly made his bed and had Nie Zeng lay Tie Linglong on top.
There were no obvious wounds on Tie Linglong, and her breath was steady. There was a faint odor of alcohol about her as well as a deep blush on her face.
“Han Fen.” Gu Shenwei immediately noticed that Tie Linglong had been affected by knockout powder.
Han Fen walked out without saying anything. She checked Tie Linglong’s eyes and mouth, produced three small wooden boxes, took a pill from each box, put all the pills into Tie Linglong’s mouth, and then used her left hand to massage Tie Linglong with broad strokes going from the throat to the stomach. As she did so, she also utilized her internal energy to help Tie Linglong swallow the pills.
Nie Zeng didn’t trust Han Fen very much and even tried to stop her, but the Dragon King didn’t let him.
Gu Shenwei turned around and asked, “What happened?”
There was anger on Nie Zeng’s face, but he held it back and asked Shulitu to tell the story.
“Nie Zeng and I were strolling around and we saw that she,” Shulitu pointed at Tie Linglong when he reached that point, “seemed to be stalking someone. It all happened really fast. Nie Zeng… maybe you should tell us what you saw. I barely saw anything.”
Nie Zeng nodded and explained, “Okay. I saw that Tie Linglong was taking a detour around a tent, and I thought that she was performing a task for the Dragon King. But then I heard some unusual sounds so I hurried over, only to find her lying unconscious on the ground. I searched around, but didn’t see anybody so I took her here immediately.”
“We didn’t tell anybody else. We thought that we should let the Dragon King make the decision,” Shulitu added.
“Mmm, well done,” Gu Shenwei said.
As the only one in the tent who was not nervous, Han Fen stood up and said, “All right. She’ll wake up after sleeping for a day or two.”
“A day or two?” Nie Zeng blurted out, but he shut up immediately afterwards.
Now, at least Tie Linglong’s safety was confirmed. Gu Shenwei then ordered Nie Zeng to bring a few particular people` of interest here.
Doctor Sun’s diagnosis was the same as that of Han Fen’s. “Hmm, she will wake up in a day or two, thanks to the antidote. So some Waning Moon Hall disciples snuck in?”
All the others turned to look at Han Fen. She had no idea why they would all look at her, so she simply looked back at them, one by one, without blinking.
“She’s here all alone.” Gu Shenwei could guarantee that Han Fen was not the culprit behind Tie Linglong’s injury. Besides, she had provided the antidote. “Has anyone from Waning Moon Hall tried to contact you recently, Han Fen?”
“No. If they were here, I would have detected it,” Han Fen said. Then she raised her head, narrowed her eyes, and inhaled deeply. “You see? I can’t smell them.”
Long Fanyun and Mo Lin stood to the side, waiting for the Dragon King’s orders. Gu Shenwei said to Shulitu, “The one who attacked Tie Linglong might still be in the camp. I hope that Your Highness can put Long Fanyun in charge of defending the whole camp, so that Mo Lin can have the space to work on identifying the moles.”
Shulitu gave his agreements repeatedly. “Of course… Sure… Follow me. I’ll write two command orders and they can take them.”
Doctor Sun volunteered to check the food and water.
Everybody received their assignments and subsequently left. But Gu Shenwei signaled for Nie Zeng to stay. “Do you still have something you wanted to say?”
Nie Zeng glanced at Han Fen. Seeing that the Dragon King didn’t mind, he said, “I saw that Tie Linglong seemed to be… walking from Instructor Shangguan’s tent, and the spot where she was attacked is also not far from the tent.”
Gu Shenwei nodded. Before leaving, Nie Zeng couldn’t help but glance at the comatose Tie Linglong. As a killer, he clearly knew every path through the camp that one could travel through while stealthed, and he was certain that Tie Linglong had passed by Shangguan Ru’s tent.
Someone else came towards the tent and Han Fen hid herself again.
Shangguan Ru and Red Bat entered together, and they headed straight for the bed to check on Tie Linglong.
“Is she okay?” Shangguan Ru asked urgently.
“She’s fine. She’s took the antidote already.”
“It’s my fault. I took her to the Second Consort’s place to drink,” Shangguan Ru said as she reproached herself in a low voice.
“No. It’s my fault. I thought that she had fallen asleep and didn’t take good care of her.” Red Bat reproached herself even more.
Gu Shenwei shook his head as he consoled, “This is not on either of you. Tie Linglong saw that someone had sneaked in and was attacked while tailing them.”
Shangguan Ru signaled for Red Bat to leave and then said to the Dragon King, “I’d like to talk to you alone.”
After a while, Gu Shenwei turned his head and said, “You may leave and rest, Han Fen.”
Han Fen walked out of the corner. “Great. Honestly, being a bodyguard is so boring. Let’s chat.”
Shangguan Ru shook her head with a bitter smile. Gu Shenwei replied, “I’m not in the mood to chat right now. Go back to your tent and rest for now. No strolling. Just sleep — this is what prisoners do.”
Han Fen sighed. Before leaving, she glanced at Shangguan Ru a few more times — she still hadn’t given up on her attempt to imitate Shangguan Ru.
“I originally meant to tell you this tomorrow — the Second Consort’s willing to help the Dragon King and Shulitu gather the 70,000 cavalrymen in the Western Regions. Her only condition is that Duodun stays unharmed.”
“She changed stances pretty quickly.”
“The Second Consort’s afraid that, someday, Duodun will choose power over her.”
“Do you believe her?”
Shangguan Ru pondered the question for a while before responding, “I don’t know. But I’ll arrange a meeting for you to talk to her alone. Then you can make your own judgement.”
Gu Shenwei remained silent for a while, then pointed at Tie Linglong, and asked “Do you know why this happened to her?”
“I do,” Shangguan Ru admitted frankly. “But I can’t tell you right now.”
“Why?”
The black eyes of Shangguan Ru glistened like clear gemstones. “I trust you, so I’d never ask you what you want to do, and I’d appreciate it if you trust me in the same way. I promise that this kind of attack will never happen again. This whole event has nothing to do with the Waning Moon Hall. And Golden Roc Castle… doesn’t have much to do with this either.”
Gu Shenwei stayed silent. In an almost beseeching tone, Shangguan Ru pleaded, “It’ll all be revealed soon. Just give me a few more days, and then I’ll tell you everything.”
“Alright.” Despite his agreement, a surge of suspicion still welled up inside Gu Shenwei.
When secrets were on her mind, Shangguan Ru was just as weird as the Dragon King when he didn’t have any secrets on his mind.
