Chapter 153: The Swordsman
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei unconsciously held on to his sword shaft. He had two types of weapons on his waist sash – a machete and a sword. The machete was used for cover and the sword was the most suitable as a killer’s blade. Due to the sudden appearance of a highly skilled opponent, he had forgotten his role as a killer of the Golden Roc Fort and as such should be better versed in the arts of using a machete instead.
Most existing sword crafts could be considered as fanciful and were pleasing to the eye but of no practical use. Therefore, in the merciless and real jianghu, swordsmen were never the mainstream but they were never lacking of skill. There were always some of them who possessed god-like swordsmanship and ranked high above other martial artists. Ye Silang was one of them.
Ye Siling never liked to speak and had dedicated his life to his sword, hence he was known as the “Sacrificial Sword”.
He was just like those who were obssessed with a certain art or skill and were in a world of their own and were only willing to spend the least amount of effort to handle ‘disturbances’ outside of their focus. To Ye Silang, other than swords and opponents, any other individuals or concerns were nothing in his eyes.
The killing intent he gave out was different from others and Gu Shenwei could feel the slight difference of it. This was someone who was getting tired of his own life and would give no second thought to killing others, without the usual accompanying fear or excitement – just killing as it is.
Gu Shenwei held on to his sword shaft tightly. He did not know if it was because there were too many people that had caused disturbances resulting in him being unable to sense his opponents ‘energy flowing through all living things’. That was the point of attack as mentioned in the Death Scripture .
Ye Siling was not as calm as he appeared on the surface. He held on to his sword shaft as well and studied this youthful killer from where he stood amongst the crowd. The youth seemed as normal as any other macheteman, weak and foolish, yet when he was about to draw his sword, his aura changed suddenly into that of another person.
Where was his killing intent? Ye Siling could not understand it. When the youth was in the entaglement with Fifth Young Master Meng, he occasionally let off some killing intent, yet now there was none – only steady, continuous breaths. The youth’s Internal Breath had spread across all nerves and tendons across his body and was one with this sword. This was obviously a stance from which he could kill in a blow, yet there was no killing intent from him.
The two of them had yet to draw their swords but only a sense of trepidation grew in each of them. Both viewed of this accidental duel as the first tough fight of their lives.
The time taken as they faced off was not considered long and Meng Mingshi was just pulled aside by Marquis Gao away from the danger. The onlookers also just jostled for the best positions, ready to watch the deadly spectacle.
Should he kill? Would his sword craft be exposed? It did not matter to Gu Shenwei anymore, his will was all concentrated on the youthful swordsman.
Tuo Nengya still played the role of the disruptor. On this night, he seemed to have wanted not for Fifth Young Master Meng to have his fun. He came forward again, walked to the middle of where the two swordsmen were facing off and shook his head, “I have not agreed, what are the two of you fighting for?”
This time, the person who felt his position was undermined was Marquis Gao. He kept his paper fan in a flurry and said, “Boss Tuo, you are also someone of experience in the jianghu, do you really not know the rules?”
Tuo Nengya sighed, and twenty over machetemen formed ranks and marched forward, blocking the path of the youthful killer.
“Boss Tuo is old and only wishes to find a dependable master. Fifth Young Master Meng and Marquis Gao, it’s not that I do not like riches, but the Horned Dragon Society has just been set up and is highly ambitious. Why do you need to hire machetemen with one foot in the grave like us lot? I do not wish to hold both of you masters up and we dare not take on your offer. Thanks for the love from both masters and please let us old men off.”
The machetemen from Tuo Nengya’s gang were about forty or so years old, and were not young but could not be considered as too old either. By de-valuing himself, he wished to settle the crisis happening in front of him peacefully.
Meng Mingshi and Marquis Gao had brought many machetemen with them along with the master swordsman Ye Silang, therefore they were naturally unafraid of Tuo Nengya. However, their objective was Slave Huan and did not wish to be involved in a mass brawl.
While the two of them were hesitating, Ye Silang suddenly let go of his sword shaft and walked to Marquis Gao’s side, saying a few words closely into his ear. Marquis Gao’s immediately smiled slightly after his face twitched a little. He said, “The ways of the world have changed, even piles of silver cannot hire a bunch of old men. Since Boss Tuo has made his choice of a better master, we can only know our position and desist.”
A confrontation was thus reduced to nothing and both Tuo Nengya and Gu Shenwei were deeply shocked. Meng Mingshi and the men he brought were also clueless, but since Marquis Gao had already spoken, none dared to oppose him. They could only leave the Rouge Forest, feeling let down after all the excitement. Fifth Young Master Meng ran up to the side of Marquis Gao and Ye Silang and breathlessly fished for the reason in a soft voice.
Only when the old machetemen and youthful killer were left in the forest, Tuo Nengya turned to face his new master and bowed in respect. The twenty over machetemen also did likewise.
Gu Shenwei accepted the gesture serenely and brought the machetemen back to the South City. When it was just before dawn, he brought them in the manor he had rented for the Tenth Young Master.
Bigmouth Liu woke early and had a shock when he saw Tuo Nengya and the gang. He hurriedly pulled his youthful superior to a side and asked what was going on – these machetemen were originally hired by the eldest Young Master, how could they work for the Tenth Young Master now?
Gu Shenwei stuck to his views and ordered Bigmouth Liu to bring the accountant and documentation officer. A contract was drawn up and endorsed and all procedures were completed.
23 armed men were hired and within the Golden Roc Fort they were known as machetemen. Yang Huan was only their chief but their real master was the Tenth Young Master who had yet to return.
After everything was done, Gu Shenwei requested for Bigmouth Liu to summon all the employees in the manor.
“Take him.” After everyone was present, Gu Shenwei gave the order.
The machetemen who had just signed their contract were eager to contribute and straight away two of them came forward and pressed Bigmouth Liu, who was fast turning green, into a kneeling position on the floor.
Bigmouth Liu could not control his shock and disbelief, ” Y-you, what are you doing? Slave Huan, Yang Huan, you do not call the shots here.”
“As the Tenth Young Master is not around, I make the decisions here,” Gu Shenwei said in a cold manner.
“Even so, you cannot act heedlessly, what are you arresting me for?”
“For communicating with the enemy, passing information to them in secret and for betraying the Tenth Young Master.”
“I didn’t, don’t you make false accusations about me.” Bigmouth Liu was still adamantly sticking to his side of the story.
Gu Shenwei signaled to the machetemen to let Bigmouth Liu go and spoke more peacefully, “I know, in your eyes, the Meng family and the Stone Castle are allies, therefore how could they be enemies to you? You divulged my whereabouts to others mindlessly and without malice.”
Bigmouth Liu’s face was totally red. “It wasn’t me, you were walking about in the forest, so many saw that, how could you say it was me?”
Gu Shenwei looked at the butler without saying a word. Bigmouth Liu knew that he had slipped his tongue – Gu had not mentioned the Rouge Forest but he himself said “in the forest”. His face turned white as a sheet again and hung his head down. “I could have said a little casually, which was passed on the Meng clan. However, I did not meet the Fifth Young Master or betray you.”
Once “Fifth Young Master” came out of his mouth, everything was proved true. Gu Shenwei drew his saber and said, “How could somebody as talkative as you be fit to work as a butler for a killer?”
Bigmouth Liu turned green again but did not believe Slave Huan would dare to kill him – he was a butler designated by the Stone Castle and not some nobody hired from the streets hired to do menial work by this slave. “Only the Tenth Young Master can sentence me.”
Gu Shenwei pushed his saber into Bigmouth Liu’s chest right up to the hilt. “This is the sentence of the Tenth Young Master.” He then watched till no more blood spurted out from Bigmouth Liu’s mouth, drew out the saber from his body and returned it to its scabbard after wiping it clean. He then said to the servants, “Throw it outside of the castle walls.”
The servants hurriedly came forward and clumsily removed the corpse. After this incident they all knew that if they wished to work in this manor, they had to keep their mouth shut as if they were mute.
Gu Shenwei summoned Tuo Nengya alone to one of the houses and questioned him about the background of Marquis Gao and Ye Silang.
Marquis Gao’s real name was Gao Zhen. He was a true Marquis and it was just that he had left his homeland for the Jade City many years ago, bringing with him uncountable treasures and wealth which were enough to last for many years to come. He had a vast network and was one of the notable young masters of the South City. Tuo Nengya believed that there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that the mastermind of the Horned Dragon Society was Marquis Gao, or at least he was one of the masterminds behind it. As for Fifth Young Master Meng, he was young and incapable and most likely just a moneybag.
Ye Silang came from a more complicated background. He seemed to have royal blood but the rumor was never confirmed. Many years ago he had become the disciple of many famous martial artists and even entered the Golden Roc Fort to learn machete techniques. In the end, he switched to learning swordsmanship seven years ago and when he returned to the Jade City three years ago he was already an accomplished top level martial artist. Many machetemen who had come to challenge him had fallen under his sword.
“No one has been able to defeat him in a duel,” Tuo Nengya said as he swept his eyes across the sword hanging at the waist of his chief. Ye Silang had unexpectedly cowered because of this sword, something weird which was unheard of. Yet this youth still lied to say that he did not know sword craft.
Gu Shenwei did not intend to provide any explanation for this matter. In fact, he needed the other party’s explanation to a greater extent.
“You wish to take revenge for the eldest Young Master.” Gu Shenwei changed the topic of conversation suddenly and went straight to the point. He was very clear that only a certain type of person would forego one thousand taels for five hundred of silver a month: a person bent on taking revenge.
“If a killer does not take revenge for his master, why would a macheteman bother?” Tuo Nengya looked unmoved.
“A killer does not have feelings, but a macheteman always repays kindness with kindness and a grievance with revenge.”
Tuo Nengya mentioned before that he served the eldest Yong Master Shangguan Chui because he owed him a favor. He said thoughtfully, “10 over years ago, I had just come to the Jade City and a killer from the Stone Castle raped my wife and even killed her. I found him after a year and killed him in revenge. This killer was hired by the eldest Young Master. He did not kill me over this incident and even offered me to take over the killer’s place. I rejected his offer and the eldest Young Master did not get angry. Just like this, after 10 years, he was hiring machetemen and I brought my brothers to work under him. Therefore, I owe him a favor and hate him to the core. Because of him, I can never get my revenge on Stone Castle.”
The youth looked at the old macheteman. There was the same form of hatred in them but they were two different people, walking two different paths to seek their revenge. There was no gratitude in the youth’s heart and he would not stop killing for anyone.
“No matter what, without me, you and your men are not allowed to come near the Tenth Young Master alone. I always strike early and never wait till after things are over to take revenge.”
“Hey, ” laughed Tuo Nengya. “Seems you are not an easy chief to handle.”
That afternoon, Gu Shenwei and Tuo Nengya returned to the Rouge Forest and hired another 28 machetemen at a monthly rate of two hundred taels of silver. There were now a total of 51 men gathered and enough to form what Tuo Nengya describes as “the Invincible Machete Formation”.
Gu Shenwei purposely selected men not familiar to Boss Tuo to prevent the old macheteman from consolidating his own power. Tuo Nengya took it all in stride and never said a word in opposition.
The next morning, Gu Shenwei returned to the Stone Castle and invited the Tenth Young Master to come down the mountain.
This tiny killer organisation had to make money fast as the 20 thousand taels of silver left would scarcely be able to pay for a month of expenses and salaries. Gu Shenwei did not wish to make use of his Master Shifu’s inheritance at such an early stage.
