Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Like a chained lion, Lianqing growled, showing two rows of huge teeth as his sharp claws rubbed gently against the ground as if he would break free at any time.
He had never liked the Dragon King. Upon hearing his accusation, he became even angrier. “Take back what you just said,” he said as he clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking.
Gu Shenwei continued staring at Monk Fachong instead of responding to Lianqing’s request or taking Shangguan Ru’s hints. He believed that interests were the only mutually accepted principle in the world, and that even the monks couldn’t remain aloof from it. The monks had ‘helped’ him several times by healing him and passing him the kung fu manual. However, there must be a purpose behind all their deeds.
Fachong, who seemed to feel the Dragon King’s eyes boring into him, slowly opened his eyes and said to Lianqing beside him, “The Dragon King has nothing to take back. Why is Martial Nephew is so irritable?”
“What? The Dragon King said… he slandered the Four Noble Truths Temple…”
“I heard it. It was merely a guess and it is not completely untrue.”
“Uncle Master…” Lianqing widened his eyes in surprise, not understanding what Fachong was saying.
Shangguan Ru also couldn’t understand. “Not completely untrue? Master… That’s impossible. The death of the Central Plains envoy has nothing to do with the Four Noble Truths Temple.”
Fachong held out a string of Buddhist prayer beads in his hand and asked, “What is this?”
His question had no specificity to it and it was too simple, so Lianqing honestly replied, “Prayer beads.”
“What else?”
Lianqing paused, scratched his head, and smiled in embarrassment. “Uncle Master knows that I’m not good at witty questions.”
“A bunch of wood,” Shangguan Ru answered.
“What else?” Fachong continued asking the same question.
“A string of cash,” answered Gu Shenwei. He wanted to see what the monk’s purpose was.
Lianqing couldn’t help but resort to his bandit’s mindset again. Looking at the prayer beads wrapping around his Uncle Master’s wrist, he thought that these beads were made of sandalwood, equal in size and uniform in color. They might not be worth too much money, but they were not cheap either. In short, they were not trash. Thinking of this, he anxiously corrected his mindset and blamed himself for his random thoughts. Meanwhile, he secretly complained about the Dragon King. Ever since the other side showed up, he had unconsciously broken the precepts several times.
“It’s also a sharp weapon for killing,” said the disciple of the Essence Pavilion in a stiff and disdainful voice. “The 108 beads are enough to kill 108 people with a flick of the finger. The monk has that power.”
“Master won’t kill people,” Shangguan Ru refuted before Lianqing could open his mouth.
“To killing or to not kill is all in his hand. No one can stop him.” The disciple of the Essence Pavilion didn’t believe in the sayings of Buddhism at all.
Gu Shenwei stopped the argument and turned to Fachong, “What do you want to say?”
“The same thing is different in the eyes of different people, and so is what the Dragon King said. You said the Four Noble Truths Temple could benefit from the death of the Central Plains envoy, and it’s true. But power and influence in the Dragon King’s eyes is exactly the so-called compassion in the eyes of me and many other monks. Delivering all living creatures from torment cannot be achieved solely through the persuasions of several monks. Even Buddha had to rely on the power of emperors to influence the world, let alone us, the common monks.”
“Mystifying things again,” the disciple of the Essence Pavilion commented. It sounded quite ironic and self-mocking when he said the words ‘mystifying things.’ “Did the monks hire someone to kill the envoy? Or did the monks know in advance? That’s all. Why make things look unnecessarily mysterious?”
The disciple of the Essence Pavilion seemed to be unable to keep his composure in front of the monk, and spoke so bluntly that it wasn’t in the Immortal Peng’s style at all. Wild Horse, on the other hand, looked a bit dazed. Gu Shenwei admired the skinny old man even more now.
“There’s only one statement, but the viewpoint depends on the Dragon King.” In comparison, Fachong appeared much calmer.
The monk still hadn’t answered directly, so Gu Shenwei also refused to clarify his ‘view.’
Shangguan Ru suddenly opened her mouth. “Is the Dragon King sure that the assassin is a killer disciple?”
“It seems so.”
“Well, you should know that not all the killer disciples of Golden Roc Castle are in the Kun Society.”
“Where else?”
Shangguan Ru didn’t answer.
Gu Shenwei suddenly understood. The information she provided was so simple that she could have said it in the very beginning, but hadn’t until the last moment. There was only one person who could make her so hesitant.
Gu Shenwei nodded slightly to Fachong and then said to Shangguan Ru, “Sorry to disturb you. Goodbye.”
“Walk yourself out.” The tension in the air was palpable. Shangguan Ru didn’t even see the Dragon King off.
Lianqing was puzzled by the result. “The Dragon King is leaving just like that? He hasn’t even asked anything yet. What a strange fellow, Uncle Master…”
Lianqing became more confused as he saw that the eminent monk Fachong, who was always serious and calm, had actually become a bit disheartened.
Outside the Kun Society, over a hundred guards were waiting for the Dragon King in the streets and alleys. A little further away from them were crowds of enthusiastic residents. The appearance of the Dragon King immediately caused a big stir in the crowd.
Gu Shenwei knew that this would become the norm in the future and that he would never be able to hide in the crowd unless he disguised himself or did so at night. This was a great success for a king but a shameful failure for a killer.
Fachong’s metaphor made sense in this occasion as well.
The guards nervously cleared the way while Gu Shenwei calmly greeted the cheering crowd. Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion obviously didn’t like the noisy scene. They pulled up the hoods of their cloaks and consciously kept their distance from the Dragon King.
Back in the stronghold in southern Jade City, the disciple of the Essence Pavilion jumped off of the horse, grabbed the Dragon King’s reins, and asked, “Do you believe the monk’s nonsense?”
The skinny old man’s rude tone and manner aroused the dissatisfaction of many guards around. Gu Shenwei looked down at him and said, “You know very well what my attitude towards nonsense is.”
There was a flash of anger in the eyes of the Essence Pavilion disciple. Of course he remembered how the Dragon King had killed the dwarf Immortal Peng.
Chu Nanping walked over with one hand holding a sword and the other stretched out in front of his chest, making a gesture of stopping the skinny old man.
The Essence Pavilion disciple let go of his reins and retreated two steps, his angry eyes turning to Chu Nanping, who was the biggest traitor of the Essence Pavilion. In his eyes, he was even more detestable than the Dragon King.
Chu Nanping stared back at him. There seemed to be a trace of coldness in his pretty eyes.
As soon as he went back to his room, Gu Shenwei summoned Xu Xiaoyi and ordered him to start collecting information about the Four Noble Truths Temple from now on. He really didn’t believe the ‘nonsense’ no matter who said it.
Very surprised by the order, Xu Xiaoyi couldn’t help but ask, “Those monks? What should I look into?”
“Things like who they regularly visit and their identities before they became a monk.”
Xu Xiaoyi nodded and quickly made a rough plan in his mind. “Oh, that’s easy. I already know of one. Golden Roc Castle often invites the monks to dispel misfortune or evil spirits. As for the monks’ identities, I’ve heard since childhood that the Four Noble Truths Temple is also known as the Temple of Kings. Many monks used to be a king, prince, and so on.”
“I need more detailed information.”
“Yes.” Xu Xiaoyi took the order and left, trying to find a reason to follow the Dragon King’s train of thought.
Sitting in the room alone, Gu Shenwei was directing his internal Qi to inspect his body. After several cycles, he found that his mind was wavering. The method of eradicating Qi deviation was inside him. He just couldn’t turn a blind eye to it. The pain of the icy needles was indescribable. Even just thinking about it made his body shake. It was extremely tempting to remove it forever.
His Sumeru Mustard energy was still a little weak and not enough to resist the yin energy that he had cultivated for many years, but Fachong was certainly willing to help. That old monk had made it very clear that to deliver all living creatures from torment, the monks needed the help of kings. The emperors pursued secular power while the monks pursued faith. But unlike mortals, they returned the favor in advance, not afterward.
Gu Shenwei’s reasons for refusing were not particularly clear. It did not seem to affect his contest for hegemony if he handed over his faith. Rather, he was actually wary of himself. He was afraid that his momentary weakness would lead him from the established path of revenge. He was more afraid that once his Qi deviation was cured, his hatred, as well as his kung fu skills, would also weaken.
As night fell, Gu Shenwei severed his thoughts and asked the guards to call in several people.
“You’ll be guarding the place tonight, not on shifts but together.”
Han Wuxian elegantly bowed and received the order. Shangguan Hong also said “yes” with his head lowered. The two were fine with it as their reverence toward the Dragon King had reached its peak.
The ‘Immortal Peng’ duo, composed of Wild Horse and the disciple of the Essence Pavilion, wasn’t that easy to talk to. They stayed with the Dragon King as a guarantee that the Master Commander would meet the Dragon King, a guarantee that Waning Moon Hall and Essence Pavilion had nothing to do with the death of the Central Plains envoy. “Immortal Peng is not your underling.”
“My orders are not limited to my subordinates.”
The four eyes of ‘Immortal Peng’ were cold and arrogant, but they made no further objections and turned to Han Wuxian instead. The dispute between them had not yet been resolved.
Before the four-man team started their duty, Gu Shenwei had already left the stronghold with only one person at his side.
Shangguan Fei was very surprised that he had been chosen and dared not ask about the purpose of the trip. But he still reminded the Dragon King, “I’m not a good killer like Lotus, and I’m not even as good as Chu Nanping. If the Dragon King wants to guard his flank and rear, it’d be better to call another person to come with us. Tie Linglong will do. I think that the two of us will probably be enough.”
“There’s no need tonight.”
Shangguan Fei felt more at ease. “No risk? That’s great… I mean, the Dragon King really shouldn’t take any chances. You are not what you used to be.”
Before long, the two began to move stealthily across the roofs of southern Jade City, so Shangguan Fei also kept his mouth shut.
It was almost the third night watch period when they entered northern Jade City. Shangguan Fei became agitated not only because this was the territory of Golden Roc Castle, but also because they were getting closer and closer to the old mansion of the Meng family.
On a roof opposite the Meng family mansion, Gu Shenwei said in a low voice, “Take me to Lady Meng.”
Although Shangguan Fei had expected this, he was still taken aback by the order. “Well… Well… My mother and I usually meet in southern Jade City. I don’t know where she lives. The Meng family mansion is so big …”
“Think carefully and answer with caution,” Gu Shenwei said, increasing his strength slightly.
Shangguan Fei immediately yielded. “Oh, I remember now. My mother told me once that she lived in a small courtyard in the east of the garden. It shouldn’t be hard to find, but this is northern Jade City. She should be sleeping now… But that’s no problem. I’m her son. My mother won’t care. And she also keeps saying that she wants to see the Dragon King.”
The three-day deadline set by Wei Song would soon come. Golden Roc Castle was searching for the assassin everywhere in Jade City, and Zhong Heng was inquiring about the leaker around the envoy of the Central Plains, while Gu Shenwei had found Lady Meng.
The killer disciples who hadn’t joined the Kun Society must have been gathered up by Lady Meng, which was why Shangguan Ru had hesitated.
