Chapter 204: A Second Duel
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Shangguan Ru did not understand how this could have happened.
She had seen countless bloody scenes in Stone Castle and had never felt afraid. She even felt some enthusiasm towards violence. Before she had even learnt how to speak, she had already been in her mother’s arms clapping and laughing at the killers. This pleased her father greatly. He had joked that this must be the real child of the Supreme King.
She had killed people. She would stand on the stairs and watch as the flames engulfed the Horned Dragon Society. She had witnessed people getting their heads cut off and had felt nothing in her heart.
However, she couldn’t even bring herself to kill a swordsman from the Great Snow Mountain that she didn’t even know.
Every single one of her blows missed the vital areas of her victims. She couldn’t bear to see a living creature lose its vitality and life force.
When Master Yu had died, he had taken not only the friendship between them but also her ruthlessness with him .
Now that her brother, Shangguan Fei, had appeared amidst the rubble, she felt extremely flustered. He was the last person she had wanted to see, especially since they were engaged in a life-and-death battle. She could feel the killers’ expectations of her and she didn’t know if she could meet those expectations.
The stones that fell from the cliff hurt several people and the remaining swordsmen were in disarray after their team was diminished by half. They stopped running after the killers. The remaining five to six swordsmen fled on their horses and the killers stopped chasing after them.
The sky was brightening and Shangguan Fei’s desperate pleas continued. “Sister, is that you? Come and save me! I am buried by the rubble. My legs…”
Shangguan Ru kept her sword. She felt very conflicted. She had to decide whether she was going to kill him. She felt a great irritation in her heart. If it weren’t for her emotional turmoil, she would have discovered the danger behind her.
She felt that something was amiss. Holding her blade, she turned around and saw one of her killers coming after her with a saber.
This killer was one of her most trusted subordinates and he currently wanted to kill this unworthy master.
Shangguan Ru’s heart was like a heavy stone that dragged her down into the abyss. Although she still had time to block with her sword, her hands were frozen.
At that very moment, she didn’t think of her parents, Master Yu, Slave Huan, and those people who were close to her. She didn’t even think of the good or bad times. The only thing on her mind was that death would be so terrible.
Death had passed her like it did the swordsman.
The killer who was determined to kill his master raised his saber high. However, his waist suddenly shuddered and he fell sharply. An arrow had plunged through his back and came out his chest.
Liuhua came over from afar. He still carried a bow.
Her brother’s cries for help still rang in her ears but, she heard nothing. What had happened was completely incomprehensible. She could only watch.
Slave Huan rushed forward and whispered something that she was not able to understand. “Wildhorse wants to kill you.”
Had Wildhorse really betrayed her? Shangguan Ru turned her head to look at the odd-looking killer. He had once been loyal to Master Yu and had been forgiven by Shangguan Ru for killing other killers. Was he really going to kill his master?
Wildhorse pulled off his mask. There was anger and confusion evident across his face. He gripped his sword and glanced at Liuhua and Shangguan Ru.
He was angry that he had been betrayed by Slave Huan. The original plan was to use this opportunity to kill Shangguan Ru and send the loot to the swordsmen from the Great Snow Mountain. Because of this, they had let several people go so they could kill them afterwards as targets of “revenge”. As for Shangguan Fei, he was an unexpected prize. Yes, they had plans of dealing with Slave Huan after everything was over but never had they expected that Slave Huan would have acted first.
What he didn’t understand was why Liuhua had chosen to support Slave Huan. Wildhorse himself was the real leader of the killers. He was also much more powerful than his opponents. Liuhua had personally promised him that he would support him at the last moment, however, that turned out to be a lie. He had never been betrayed before so this act of betrayal caused him much pain.
He could have pretended that he knew nothing about what was going on but his expression betrayed his thoughts.
In this moment of indecision, Maid Lotus had already killed another killer and only one killer remained. He prepared to escape but was shot by Liuhua. He fell amongst the corpses.
Wildhorse was left to Slave Huan. They had an unfinished duel to settle.
Wildhorse raised his head. He would not flinch nor escape and he wouldn’t feel guilty about the plot. He had never regarded anyone as his master in his heart and Master Yu was no exception.
Even if he could speak, he would not expose Slave Huan’s motives at this time. It was this slave who had betrayed everybody and what Wildhorse wanted to do now was kill Slave Huan.
He had his chance. In the monthly test, he had dealt Slave Huan a blow with his dagger. If he had delivered a more powerful blow, he would have been able to save himself from this duel, however, Wildhorse was not exactly regretful. He gripped his dagger and walked towards his enemy.
Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus had talked and decided that Wildhorse was a greater threat than Shangguan Ru. The Snow Mountain Gang’s plan to exterminate the Tattooed Arm Gang had never changed and no matter how much Wildhorse apologized, they felt that he would strike and sabotage their interests eventually.
On the surface, the two seemed nonchalant about Wildhorse’s actions but secretly, they had already decided to strike before he did.
Liuhua was a wildcard. This marksman would be a great ally to whoever whom he had decided to support. The reason that Maid Lotus had been able to win him over was simple. Because the Snow Mountain Gang was already very powerful, Liuhua would not have made a discernible impact even if he had joined the gang. However, things would be different if he were to join the weak Tattooed Arm Gang. He would be seen as a prized ally.
Gu Shenwei also pulled his mask down. There was no need for him to hide his kung fu skills any longer. Though Wildhorse was not his sworn enemy, Gu Shenwei desired to have this duel. The scar that Wildhorse had left on him was still on his chest abd it was a deep wound that would never fully heal.
Shangguan Ru looked at her two most skilled killers approach each other coldly. A deathly shadow passed over her face as she lost all capability to make a decision. Strangely, both of them seemed to walk towards each other casually. It was almost as though they did not know each other at all. Even more strangely, killing each other did not seem to be on their minds.
Time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye from the moment the first assassin fell. Shangguan Fei was completely unaware of everything that had happened around him. Buried under the rubble, he kept calling “sister” over and over again.
Shangguan Ru came to with a start. She had to save her brother now. Just as this idea had come into her mind, Slave Huan and Wildhorse attacked at the same time.
Even though they were both schooled in the kung fu of the Golden Roc Fort, Wildhorse’s machete skills put the Tenth Young Master’s to shame.
Practitioners like humans were flexible and creative, unlike kung fu techniques, which were inherently rigid. From one practitioner to the other, there were a hundred variations and levels. Wildhorse apparently belonged to the most elite. There were no major variations in his kung fu but he was incredibly quick.
Slave Huan’s sword skills left Shangguan Ru gaping in astonishment. It was as if none of his moves even appeared in the textbooks and every blow seemed to echo a missing memory. The two most fleeting moments that were captured was Slave Huan gripping his sword and piercing his enemy.
The two killers traded a blow and distanced themselves from each other immediately.
Shangguan Ru did not see their moves clearly, but she knew who won.
Slave Huan looked at the wound on his shoulder. Blood flowed out from the wound but compared to the gash dealt by Wildhorse earlier, it was nothing of note.
Wildhorse patted his neck. He wasn’t dead, but he felt something sting him. There was no blood but he felt very strange. It was as though there had been something very important in him, something strung by a line, that had snapped.
Wildhorse staggered backwards and huffed. Suddenly, a portion of his Internal Breath in his Dantian left his body. He started to panic inside. How could Slave Huan have dissipated his Internal Strength? What kind of terrible wicked sword craft was this?
Gu Shenwei was also panicking as he only had a set of sword craft. He hadn’t been able to kill Wildhorse with a single blow. That only meant that in the next blow, he could die under Wildhorse’s dagger. All of his opponents had died after a single blow. He had no idea whether he had destroyed Wildhorse’s Internal Strength.
Shangguan Ru ignored her brother’s pleas for the moment. She walked toward the killers and stood between them. She faced Wildhorse and stared him in the eye. “You can go now.”
“No.” Liuhua shouted. His hand still held a bow. He was confident of killing the most elite of the Dragon Year apprentices. Wiping his enemy out at its roots was a principle that had been deeply instilled in him.
Shangguan Ru stared at Wildhorse. “Let me decide. Let this traitor go. I don’t want to kill anyone anymore.”
She was just like a child who had grown tired of a game. She had decided to withdraw, no matter how enthusiastic the others had been and there was no turning back.
She was just a child.
Gu Shenwei looked at her and secretly sighed a breath of relief. They were both 14 years of age, however, unlike the disciples of Stone Castle, Shangguan Ru could still return to being a child. This was different from how killers of Stone Castle could only run single-mindedly toward their death.
Wildhorse couldn’t say anything. Even if he had been able to speak, he would not thank the Tenth Young Master. He was a traitor but he was also betrayed. This master was weak and stupid. She had failed to see how all her followers had ulterior motives. Not telling her anything would be the greatest form of punishment for her. As for Slave Huan, their duel had not ended.
Wildhorse turned around toward the grasslands of the North. He put his saber into his scabbard and did not put up his guard. His Internal Strength became weaker with every breath he took. If someone had caught up with him, he would not have had the strength to resist.
Wildhorse walked further and further into the distance.
Maid Lotus looked at Gu Shenwei. This was a great opportunity. They could kill the twins and Wildhorse now while it was not too late. Then they could go support Shangguan Nu. The Eighth Young Master would likely protect them. He had long since lost trust in his former ally, Lady Meng.
Gu Shenwei nodded his head. With the twins dead, they could have a firmer grip on things. They could prove themselves through this incident and continue climbing upward. Perhaps they could get closer to the Supreme King through Lady Meng. The Supreme King was the mastermind behind the Gu Family’s death.
Neither of the twins smelt betrayal in the air.
Shangguan Fei was almost shouting himself hoarse. Shangguan Ru finally came up to him. “Sister, my dear sister, please save me, I will give everything to you and I will not fight with you over anything anymore.”
A huge boulder had landed upon Shangguan Fei’s right leg and at that moment, he had no chance of living.
“Why are you here?” Shangguan Ru knew that she should be saving her brother but in her heart, she hesitated.
“I…I want to achieve something so that no one would look down on me and say that I am a weakling. Even the killers themselves were secretly saying this among themselves. Sister, they are all wolves- all of them. If the master wasn’t like a tiger, they would devour you. I am afraid, sister, I want to return to Stone Castle…”
Shangguan Fei had only cared about his wound but did not realize that at that moment, Shangguan Ru was actually convinced. She had trusted Wildhorse so much, but he had betrayed her.
Killers were all wolves. They would come attacking the instant their masters revealed some form of weakness. Shangguan Ru could hardly bear to look at the three remaining killers. At that instant, she could hardly tell whether they were human beings or wolves.
Shangguan Fei held his own leg and wanted to pull it out under the rock, however, he was afraid of the pain and his tears kept flowing down his cheeks. “Sister, quick, save me. Let’s get out here immediately. The person who set the trap was fourth brother. He is still in that village. He’ll be coming for us soon.”
