Chapter 277: Competition
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
There were no blood stains despite the fact that a corpse was lying on the floor.
“It’s rare for you to think of me. Now the maids would not need to exert a lot of effort to clean the carpet.” Xiao Fengchai commented emotionlessly as though she was used to seeing the scene of a murder. She didn’t know kung fu so she wanted to let the Dragon King exhaust his Internal Strength. However, the killer who she arranged had made a mistake. She said, “I wish that my machetemen were as competent as you.”
She gently knocked twice on the table and two hunched elderly women came in. They carried the body away without saying anything.
“I really can’t control my machete skills,” Gu Shenwei explained, but he didn’t intend to apologize. The person had wanted to ambush Gu Shenwei with anonymous knockout powder from Golden Roc Fort. However, since a few years ago, Gu Shenwei had been taking in a certain dosage of such powder on a regular basis. Therefore, he was immune to it. He only felt weak for a moment, but he didn’t spare any effort to show mercy.
The strong had various choices, but the weak only have two options: to kill or be killed.
“You are as uncontrollable as your machete skills, ” Xiao Fengchai said with a laugh. Her teasing seemed just right because it could be understood as either a compliment or a sarcasm.
“Say. How can I help you?” Gu Shenwei didn’t respond to her goodwill. The killer was on alert because this woman had a certain air which could infatuate other men. To control or be controlled. He had suffered a lot in this aspect in the past so he was deeply concerned about it.
Xiao Fengchai’s expression had not changed. However, she was more interested in looking into the killer’s eyes. She said, “One small thing.”
“You are making a great fuss over nothing by spending so much effort, just so you could find me for such a small matter.”
“Spending much effort? Haha, it’s not really true. My people have been watching Lyu Qiying from Southwall Tavern, and they found a strange young swordsman. He was disguised but appeared slightly nervous, hence they followed him from far behind. Then, they saw you. He didn’t know you were the famous the Dragon King of the Great Snowmountain. I realized you were the Dragon King when you got rid of the stalkers and startled two of my men. I thought you would come last night, but I didn’t expect that someone would stand me up.”
Unconsciously, Xiao Fengchai changed her attitude and became approachable, as though she was an old friend of the Dragon King who hadn’t seen him for many years. That silent meeting through the mask suddenly became a memorable affair.
This was her skill. She could detect the hidden feelings of the other party through the smallest details, and adjust her attitude accordingly. A single expression wouldn’t be able to please all men.
Gu Shenwei didn’t realize that his wariness was gradually diminishing. By the time he realized, he had loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword.
“People usually find me to kill for them. Who do you want me to kill?” Although Gu Shenwei was less wary, he was still unwilling to waste his time here.
“The Dragon King is so direct. You make me feel a little embarrassed. The person I want to kill … is related to the Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei suddenly realized how extraordinary Xiao Fengchai was. She hadn’t displayed this side of herself when they first met three years ago and he didn’t pay special attention to her either.
Xiao Fengchai’s eyes were more alluring than her appearance and temperament, even more so than all the other prostitutes in Pleasure Alley.
Gu Shenwei had seen many prostitutes. They all had their own special skills and tricks to seduce men. However, most of them either had a poor performance or a fixed expression. Xu Yanwei was like most of them as she could only seduce inexperienced clients with her pitiful looks. She was unable to serve experienced clients.
Their eyes revealed their true feelings. A casual glance could show their displeasure towards the guest and their desire for money.
Xiao Fengchai’s gaze and attitude were in harmony. When she acted noble, her gaze looked indifferent. When she acted amicably, her gaze looked playful. When she acted elegantly, her gaze looked empty. When she was praising the client, her eyes showed respect. When she acted flirtatiously, her eyes interacted with the client. All of her emotions were completely genuine.
Gu Shenwei came to a realization and raised his guard against her. Although he didn’t grab onto his sword hilt, he defended against her in his heart. Years of killing had made him understand a truth: Killers did not need to use a sword to kill. Counselors used their mouth to kill and women used their hearts to kill.
“Shopkeeper Lyu.” Gu Shenwei knew the reason, but he still asked, “How did he offend you?”
“The Dragon King should know that I am a little woman who makes a living through small dealings in this chaotic world. To be honest, I don’t like competition. Lyu Qiying probably didn’t know that he had been snatching away more and more of my business. I can’t sleep because of this.”
“You should have a lot of good killers. You don’t need me.”
“I have good killers, but Lyu Qiying has them too. It had become too late when I discovered it. Now, it is a problem. I need a brilliant killer like the Dragon King to help me eliminate the problem.”
Gu Shenwei remained silent. There were many loopholes in Xiao Fengchai’s words, so he wanted to hear her explanation.
Xiao Fengchai smiled slightly brighter as her eyes looked slightly aggrieved. She asked, “Doesn’t the Dragon King believe me?”
“I have reasons not to believe you.”
Xiao Fengchai adjusted her demeanor again. This time, she became straightforward as though she was making a business deal. She was also respectful towards the Dragon King. She said, “Yes. Why wouldn’t Xiao Fengchai approach Golden Roc Fort? Who is more suitable than a Golden Roc killer in terms of killing a person in Jade City?”
Xiao Fengchai asked some questions and then answered them after a momentary pause. She explained, “I have said that it was too late when I found out that Lyu Qiying was my competitor. He has almost everything that I have. Do you think he is in contact with Golden Roc Fort? Like all businessmen, he has to pay a large amount of protection money to Golden Roc Fort. Hence, if I ask Golden Roc Fort to kill him, I will have to pay a huge price. I may have to bear the monthly payment for him. The most important thing is that I know Lyu Qiying is doing business with the Dragon King, so I was hoping to replace him. This cannot be made known to Golden Roc Fort.”
The relationship between this woman and the various forces in Jade City had always been a mystery. Gu Shenwei didn’t know how much trust he should place in her. He asked, “Aren’t you afraid that I will be killed by Golden Roc Fort?”
“As long as the Dragon King is willing to cooperate with me, I can guarantee you that no one in South City can kill you. Xiao Fengchai may not know how to kill people, but she knows how to protect people.” Xiao Fengchai sounded very confident. Her gaze became as sharp as that of men. She said, “Golden Roc Fort is the god of Jade City. However, due to its superiority, it had distanced themselves from the ground. If you could maintain a low profile, you will not be caught by the Supreme King.”
Gu Shenwei had sounded Xiao Fengchai out and there was no need for him to stay any further. Hence, he retreated towards the door and said, “I will have to reject your proposal. However, I have to remind you that if Lyu Qiying dies, you will not be safe either.”
Xiao Fengchai was still smiling as though she was sure of her victory even after being rejected. She said, “I am not in a rush. This is just a suggestion. I hope the Dragon King can first think of my proposal when he needs a safe hiding spot in Jade City.”
The killer had left, but Xiao Fengchai was still smiling and pondering interestingly. She believed that this meeting was still fruitful because she knew more than the Dragon King. She was always the winner.
There were not many pedestrians on the street. Gu Shenwei was wearing a hood while he was walking in the darkness. He didn’t have an answer to his biggest doubt. The first person who followed him was not sent by Xiao Fengchai. The person who swallowed drugs and committed suicide had a different background. Xiao Fengchai didn’t know the existence of this person.
He went to his neighborhood, but he didn’t enter the alley. Instead, he jumped onto a roof from afar as though he was a killer on a mission. He laid low and moved about at the dark side of the roof.
Xiao Fengchai hadn’t said much, but Gu Shenwei guessed some of them. He guessed that Golden Roc Fort had known that the Dragon King had infiltrated South City and that they were secretly mobilizing killers to kill him.
He knew the tricks of Golden Roc Fort. Usually, killers didn’t search the city with great fanfare. They loved to search for targets secretly and then kill the enemy discreetly.
This time was no exception.
After secretly moving around for a while, Gu Shenwei discovered the traces of killers.
Two groups of killers were hiding in two houses, which were located in a street behind him. They were guarding the entrance and the exit of the alley. They were on standby, but they didn’t want to alert the enemy.
There were two killers lying in ambush near Gu Shenwei’s house, and they were responsible for delivering information. There was a third killer on the roof opposite the residence, and he was monitoring for movements in the courtyard. Once the target appeared, he would send a signal to the two messengers. Then, the two messengers would inform the other killers to surround the house.
This was a standard assassination operation. If Gu Shenwei hadn’t started his inspection from the outermost periphery, then it would be very difficult to find any clues.
Gu Shenwei didn’t want to alert the enemy, but Chu Nanping was still in the residence. He had to save this young swordsman.
The two assassins who were responsible for delivering information had to change their positions regularly. They would move around the target’s residence, as this method would eliminate any blind spots.
After figuring out their pattern, Gu Shenwei laid in ambush at one of the killer’s path. He pulled out his saber and waited in silence.
A hunched killer came over quietly. He was staring at the house under the moonlight, but he didn’t notice the small shadow at the side.
Even though the distance was a little far, Gu Shenwei rushed toward the killer with his saber and jumped like a cat.
The killer’s head was hanging on the roof and made a slight noise. Gu Shenwei pressed against his body and waited for a while before slowly moving away.
Gu Shenwei touched the back of the second killer directly. The killer was alerted and quickly turned around. He was already holding on to his saber. However, he was slightly slower and was stabbed in his neck.
Under normal circumstances, Gu Shenwei had to retreat quickly after killing a person. However, Gu Shenwei couldn’t do that this time. Gu Shenwei was holding onto a corpse in one hand while he caught the other killer’s saber with the other hand. He gently laid the killer down so as not to make too much noise.
The killer who was responsible for the surveillance remained. He hadn’t moved for half a night. Usually, the killer who performed this role was the best as he must have enough patience and keen judgement.
Gu Shenwei didn’t want to take the risk of killing this killer. He went behind the house, picked up three small stones from the ground and threw them at the rear window. He threw two stones, paused for a moment and then threw the last stone.
Chu Nanping heard the signal and quickly jumped out from the rear window. Both of them quickly fled into the complex streets of South City.
The surveillant saw the both of them, but both of the messengers were dead. It would be too late if the surveillant personally went to inform the huge group of killers. Also, as he was alone, it was too risky for him to pursue the Dragon King. Hence, he could only watch the targets disappear.
Xu Xiaoyi had a few houses in South City, but Gu Shenwei knew that none of them was safe. He was betrayed and his whereabouts were exposed. As Xiao Fengchai had said, he needed a safe hiding spot and had to maintain a low profile.
He must find a secluded place to hide for twelve hours as now was the time when he would experience the once-in-a-few-months qigong deviation.
