Chapter 280: Bow and Arrow
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei’s tracks had been discovered five days ago, and the killers from the Golden Roc Fort took their time to prepare a perfect trap for him.
A few of them snuck into the teahouse everyday, acting like friendly neighbors by greeting the other guests warmly and joining in every conversation. In this way, 17 of them were already lying in wait for the Dragon King when it came to them for them to act.
Of course, real citizens could recognize which of the guests were not from the neighborhood, but they did not pay any special attention to strangers, as there would definitely be guests from out of town in a teahouse. Gu Shenwei was a fake ‘neighbor’, and thus could not tell the difference between strangers and citizens.
The old man’s idle conversation with the manager alerted the Dragon King, so the killers had no choice but to execute their plan prematurely. What happened next stunned the old man to such a great extent that he remained speechless afterward for a few days.
The rest of the guests and the manager were so frightened that they hid under the tables. They could only hear the never ending sounds coming from the clash of weapons, but miraculously, after the incident, they all claimed that they saw what happened.
“There were blood and pieces of flesh flying across the teahouse, and human heads were raining down upon the floor. There was one head that fell before me, and I’m not bluffing, I swear it even grinned at me.”
“None of the 20 killers were left alive.”
“All 50 killers perished in the fight.”
“A hundred killers…”
The rumors became more and more exaggerated, but only a few people truly knew what happened that afternoon.
Gu Shenwei cut down seven of his opponents with 24 strokes of his saber, however he caught three blows and nearly lost his life in the teahouse.
He had just drawn the Five Peaks Saber, when a saber came slashing at him from underneath the table. He lifted the table using a palm and struck down the ‘guest’ on his left with the saber. At the same time, he was cut at his left waist.
The wound was not deep, and it did not cause him much pain. He continued hacking at his opponents.
The interior of the teahouse was not very spacious, and there were obstacles all around it. Gu Shenwei could not circle his enemies and pick them off one by one. He could only take them on directly and he had to be wary of sneak attacks on his exposed back as well.
Chu Nanping did not enter the city with the Dragon King, as he was not suited for stealth missions, even though he was highly skilled in kung fu. He would have been exposed too easily.
The fight in the teahouse was a chaotic melee that did not suit either side, and it was especially disadvantageous for Gu Shenwei. Just as he killed his sixth opponent, another one made a long slash on his back. Blood poured out from his wound and half of his torso was soon covered in it.
That said, he still managed to bash out an escape path. He had no intention of being stuck in a prolonged fight.
He leapt out of the teahouse after striking down another opponent with two more strokes of his saber, closely followed by the remaining killers, who kept him within five steps.
The fight ended as abruptly as it had started. Pedestrians outside of the teahouse were still bustling about, minding their own business. The bloodied Dragon King knocked into one of them as he rushed into the crowd, and nearly fell after losing his balance. This momentary pause led to the killers catching up with him, and three sabers came slashing at him.
Two of them missed their mark, but the last one drew a shallow wound on Gu Shenwei’s right arm.
It was at this moment when three masked archers, who were lying in wait on the room opposite the teahouse, released an arrow each, taking down the three killers. They saved the Dragon King’s life.
The pedestrians were beginning to realize what was going on. “The Dragon King is coming!” someone shouted as everyone panicked, the entire street descending into a state of chaos.
Gu Shenwei did not even have time to see who had saved him, since there were still seven killers hot on his heels, and he had to run even faster if he wished to escape from them. He took advantage of the chaos and snuck into an empty alley by following the crowd. He leaned against a wall and caught his breath, thinking hard about how to escape from South City. He was sure that the 17 killers had back up, and any misstep would lead into another trap again.
As he was deep in thought, two masked archers leapt down from the roof, short bow in hand.
He brandished his saber in front of him, and it made him feel the wound on his shoulder. He did not feel anything earlier because of the adrenaline rush from the fight, but could sense a bone piercing pain now.
“Follow me,” a masked archer said. The voice was evidently that of a woman.
The two archers were holding on to unloaded bows and did not seem to pose any threat to him. Gu Shenwei nodded and lowered his saber, still holding onto it just in case.
The three of them ran deep into the alley, made a few turns and came to a small yard. They leapt over its walls, and there were three black capes ready for them to wear in a room. As the two archers removed their masks, Gu Shenwei could see that they were women who were about 17 to 18 years of age.
He could not recognize any of them.
It was not the time for introductions, however. They quickly donned their capes, and one of the women started feeling around the floor boards. She opened a trap door, revealing a hidden underground passage. She leapt in, followed by Gu Shenwei and the other archer.
The passage was not long, but when they emerged from it, they were already in another room a few streets away. There was a carriage waiting for them outside the room, and the two women leapt into it, followed by Gu Shenwei. The horsekeeper gave a shout to get the horses moving, and directed them forward.
As the wheels of the carriage began moving, Gu Shenwei could finally have a moment of respite to tend to his wounds. He removed his cape, tore away part of his sleeve to bandage up his wounds. The two women just sat looking at him and did not offer to help.
After he was done, he began wondering about the events of the last half an hour.
“The killers from the Golden Roc Fort had me surrounded, and nearly succeeded in killing me. However, their plan was foiled by some masked archers.”
The archers’ shortbows made him think of somebody he knew—Liuhua the Silencer, the marksman from the Dragon Year apprentices.
He then thought about someone else he was familiar with as well.
Gripping his Five Peaks Saber, he turned to his ‘saviors’ and asked coldly, “Who’s your master?”
Both women shook their heads simultaneously, and one of them replied, “It’s not time to reveal our master yet. Follow us, Dragon King, and our master will talk to you personally.”
The next moment, the carriage hit a hump, and Gu Shenwei seized this chance to leap out of the carriage through its back door, merging quickly into the crowd. The two women did not have any chance to stop him, and the horsekeeper was oblivious to what was going on behind him.
It did not matter who his ‘savior’ was, Gu Shenwei did not want to meet him or her without knowing anything about who he or she was. He knew that this person would have no difficulty finding him, should he or she wish to meet him again. After all, he or she knew about the Golden Roc Fort’s trap before he even realized it.
Just the thought that his savior could be that woman that he was so familiar with gave him the chills.
Gu Shenwei prided himself on having good sources of information, but he did not expect that Maid Lotus and the New Moon Hall would disappear off the grid for the past three years. Even though Shangguan Nu was still seemed to be at the border of the desert, busy with wiping out the New Moon Hall, he had not been achieving any real progress for a protracted period of time.
Both he and Maid Lotus knew each other’s deepest secrets—that his real name was Gu Shenwei and she stole the Wayless Book for the New Moon Hall. Even though they had never made a pact to keep their secrets to themselves, neither of them leaked the other’s secret to a third party.
He could see traces of Maid Lotus’ method of handling things from the sudden emergence of the archers. Maid Lotus had allowed Liuhua to shadow her previously, and there was no doubt that she would know how to utilize archers as well.
He felt his Dragon Head Sowrd hanging at his waist. Out of nine exceptional weapons crafted by the blacksmith Daga, only this sword had not yet tasted the blood of its enemies.
He was preoccupied with thoughts about the impending final battle between the two of them, both similarly trained in the Wayless Book and the Death Scripture, and did not notice where he was heading to.
Even though she could have been the one who had saved his life this time, it was not enough to settle their differences.
Unknowingly, he had walked into Pleasure Alley. It was not far from the teahouse, and news of the fight between the Dragon King and the killers had already spread like wildfire. Scores of stern-looking machetemen were patrolling the streets, inspecting each brothel one by one. Passers-by were also frequently stopped and interrogated crudely.
Business in Pleasure Alley was affected negatively as a result of the actions of the machetemen. The prostitutes, their maids and elderly women servants either stood at the streets or peeked out from their windows mocking the ineptitude of the killers and the machetemen. There were even a few famous prostitutes amongst them, and the men prowling the streets—even some of the machetemen who had a task to accomplish—could not help but keep turning their attention to the eye candy.
Gu Shenwei walked into a corner between two walls and wiped off the make up from his face vigorously with his cape when he saw that no one was looking. He was unafraid of being recognized after removing his disguise, since he was sure that no one in Pleasure Alley would remember a killer named Yang Huan who used to own a brothel in the alley.
He removed his hood and became just like any other man, walking on the streets while looking at the ladies occasionally. The women began mocking the machetemen more enthusiastically, as their audience grew larger.
“Oh, isn’t that old man Li? Just two nights ago, you swore that you would kill the Dragon King by yourself, and split the bounty with me. What happened today then? Did the Dragon King slip from you? You look like your wife has died, you bastard. You should be happy if your wife’s dead…”
The man being recognized as “Old Man Li” had more than 10 machetemen with him, and did not lift his head to acknowledge the woman calling him out. He was prepared to start a fight with whoever was laughing the hardest at him, and did not notice a pale and sickly looking youth passing him by. The youth looked nothing like the Dragon King who had escaped from the teahouse earlier that afternoon.
Gu Shenwei walked slowly to the center of the street, and lifted his head to see a very pretty prostitute giving off all kinds of signals to the men looking at her from below. She was using the opportunity to promote herself.
She had to do so, as she was facing heavy competition. Xiao Fengchai’s brothel was just next to hers.
Xiao Fengchai would never show her face under such circumstances, even if most of the men were queuing up outside her house.
Gu Shenwei knocked on the door of the pretty prostitute’s house, and a few men who were in the vicinity gave him knowing smiles.
A maid opened the door and invited him in enthusiastically. She brought him tea and began talking to him in a perfunctory manner, trying to get a measure of his wealth. Understanding what she was trying to do, Gu Shenwei fished out a small gold nugget, and the maid immediately promised to invite her mistress out.
This was previously Xu Yanwei’s house, and even if there had been some slight changes he could still remember its layout very clearly. Just as the maid stepped into the bedroom on the second floor, he placed his teacup down, took a few steps to the bottom of the staircase, and leapt up without making a sound. He clutched at the floorboards of the second storey with his left hand, and remained hanging there in this position.
“The esteemed guest is here…” The prostitute’s tone turned from sweet to cold before she even finished her sentence. “Where’s he? The guest? Where’s the guest with the gold?”
“Eeh, he was here just a moment ago.”
The two ladies hurriedly came down the stairs in search of the mischievous customer, and Gu Shenwei leapt up from the other side of the stairs. He went quickly into the bedroom once he landed on the second storey.
The window facing the street was only partially shut. He walked up to the rear window, unlatched it and pushed it open gently. He then closed it back again after leaping out of the window. He knew that the ladies would not notice anything strange for the time being.
He was now standing close to Xiao Fengchai’s house. In the past, he had to swing across using a rope, but with his skills now, he could cross over with just a leap.
The first window of her house, which led into her bedroom, was tightly shut, and Gu Shenwei did not want to be directly entering her bedroom, therefore he leapt to the second window. He listened carefully for any signs of movement before drawing his dagger and using it to pry open the latch on the window. He then opened a gap just wide enough for himself and entered the house.
There was no one in the guest hall on the second storey, as most of the maids were downstairs waiting for their orders.
Gu Shenwei could hear that there was someone else other than Xiao Fengcha in her bedroom. He crept to the door of the room and heard a man saying, “This is a huge deal for us. We have to find the Dragon King before the Stone Castle gets to him.”
