Chapter 324: Despondent
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
In the evening, two men, one old and one young, both dressed like beggars, appeared at the Residence of Dragon King. They were immediately discretely brought to the back courtyard.
The first thing they received when they arrived was a full meal. They were eating in a very different way: The young one devoured ravenously, he had not even swallowed the first bite when the second piece was already in his mouth. The old man was calmer. He drank some wine, took some food, and are, repeating these three movements methodically. He seemed slower, but he ate more than his young companion.
Tie Linglu, at the other side of the table, looked at the two uninvited guests, especially at the young one, as he had heard that had had once wanted to kill Dragon King.
Afraid that his stomach would explode, Nie Zeng stopped eating and took a deep breath, raising his head for the first time.
“What do you want?” Nie Zeng told ruthlessly to the green-eyed girl, thinking that she was the monster accompanying Dragon King.
Tie Linglong, shocked, sat up straight. His impression of that beggar was even worse, “Are you looking for revenge?”
“That’s right.”
“I am Dragon King’s personal guard, you’ll have to go through me.”
Nie Zeng sneered disdainfully, not caring a whit.
“I’ll give you a chance right now. Come and fight. “Tie Linlong was furious. Standing up, she pulled out her saber.
Nie Zeng took one look at the new recognized “Master Shifu”. Hu Shining, as if he had not heard anything, did not stop eating and did not give any advice.
Nie Zeng patted his stomach, stood up and pulled out his short sword.
His short sword was actually long and large, and it did not seem to suit him.
Tie Linglong snorted again. Before the young beggar could stand firmly, she suddenly slashed out with her blade before retreating.
Nie Zeng’s sword fell to the ground. He looked down and saw a wound on his chest, one-foot long. At first, only a few drops of blood seeped out, but soon, more and more blood flowed, soaking his clothes and dripping onto the floor.
“You, you cheated.” Nie Zeng terrified put both his hands on the wound, hoping to stop the bleeding.
“You idiot.” Tie Linlong coldly gave a lesson to the untactful beggar, “Machete skills are to kill people, there’s no such thing as cheating.”
Nie Zeng’s face alternated between red and white, and looked again at his Master Shifu.
Hu Shining, finally satisfied, spit out, “You are indeed an idiot, it’s true what they say about you.” After reprimanding Nie Zeng, he turned to the young lady, “And you are not smart either. Machete skills are used to kill people, why do you want to watch him bleed? You wasted such a good chance to kill.”
Tie Linglong wanted to explain why she had shown mercy but realized that this would contradict what she said before. She swallowed what she wanted to say, her impression of the old beggar even worse.
Hu Shining picked up a pot of wine, and looking up, poured it into his mouth, then pulled Nie Zeng’s hands apart, sprayed a mouthful on the wound, then poured all the rest of the wine in the pot onto the wound to wash it.
Nie Zeng gritted his teeth through the pain, but Tie Linglong looked cheerful.
Hu Shining moved fast, before any new blood had gushed out. Pulling out a paper bag, as if by magic, he drew out and Jinchuang ointment and spread some on Nie Zeng’s chest, and then bound the wound up with a piece of the young man’s clothes.
Chu Nanping, who had been standing in a corner all this time, came over and asked, “Dragon King, will you be our Master Shifu?”
Hu Shining sat back on his chair, “I don’t know. Maybe, anyway I can’t do anything else either.”
“Is your technique good?” Tie Linglong asked immediately, as if doubtful of Dragon King’s decision.
“Not so good, maybe not even as good as yours.” Hu Shining replied honestly.
“Then how can you be my Master Shifu?”
“Three days after becoming my disciple, I guarantee you’ll never ask such a stupid question again.”
Tie Linglong’s face was red. Dragon King was severe, but he had never called her stupid. With her hand on the saber’s handle, she thought about challenging the old beggar to a duel.
Chu Nanping stood between them, “If Dragon King invited him, it means that he must be something extraordinary.”
Tie Linglong’s face became even stiffer, “We are still breaking up, I never promised I would make peace with you.” But she did not pull out the saber and turned away.
Chu Nanping had a melancholy expression. He regretted breaking up with his two good friends. Xu Xiaoyi forgave him easily, but Tie Linglong did not seem to have any intention to do so.
Nie Zeng covered the wound with his hand, “What a boorish woman!”
Hu Shining did not agree, “If well trained, she will become even stronger than the two of you.”
Tie Linglong circled around the courtyard to go to the Dragon King’s office. She wanted to confirm if the old beggar was going to become her master. She was a disciple of Dragon King himself, what more did she need?
As she reached the office, she heard the “Shaking-Head” military counselor’s voice.
For the last two days, the military counselor was always bothering Dragon King, “Dragon King, this is not your personal affair. When the Supreme King became the king, the Great Snowmountain lost their chance to fight with him.”
“How about the Central Plain, what’s their opinion?”
“They agree with me. They hope that Dragon King will take on this responsibility. You know, the Central Plain is gathering their strengths, it is not suitable for a public conflict.”
Dragon King did not reply. Fang Wenshi decided to risk provoking his master, “Dragon King, you are still thinking about Shangguan Ru, aren’t you? Now she is Meng Wu’s wife. It doesn’t matter what other people say, the Meng family and the Shang family have recognized it too, and you should think for yourself now. The other party is Stone Kingdom’s Princess, she is of high enough status that your own will not be compromised.”
“Please, don’t mention her again.” Dragon King’s voice became cold.
“Counselor Fang knows his guilt, please forgive him.” There was no fear in Fang Wenshi’s voice. “I heard that the Princess of Stone Kingdom is still very beautiful. And even if she’s a bit uglier, what are you afraid of? After a few years, you will get a whole country. Even if it was to a monkey, everybody would like to marry her.”
Tie Linglong could not bear to listen any longer. She pushed open the door and said, severely, “No.”
Gu Shenwei had already heard Tie Linglong’s footsteps, though Fang Wenshi had not noticed and was slightly shocked, “Who are you, how dare you to say ‘No’? This is a matter of national importance, not a child playing house. Get out.”
Tie Linglong was not afraid of the military counselor, and took two steps forward, “You are a bad military counselor, specialized in coming up with bad ideas. When Dragon King wanted to save sister Ru, you did not agree. Now sister Ru had come down the mountain, but you still urge him to marry another woman, is sister Ru your enemy?”
Fang Wenshi was a glib, but he was puzzled by the girl’s words, “This is ridiculous, why should we be enemies? I… Who are you anyway? What do you care who Dragon King is going to marry?”
“I…” Tie Linglong did not know what to say.
She was that child saved by Dragon King. She had learnt how to use a saber with him, even if they could not be called master and disciple. The first day he taught her kung fu, Dragon King clearly said that he had personally killed her grandfather Tie Hanfeng.
But she did not bear any resentment towards Dragon King, and Dragon King had never suspected her.
“I am Dragon King’s personal guard.” Tie Linglong finally thought what she could say, “So… so it’s natural that I care about who Dragon King is going to marry, otherwise, when they are squabbling, how can I fulfill my duty?”
At these half-comprehensible words, Fang Wenshi burst into laughter. Not only Dragon King did not thank her for her help, but he even sent her out, “I have already invited the best training tutor. You and Little Chu won’t be my personal guards anymore. Go back and learn how to be a killer again.”
“I saw the old man. I… I don’t like him. And I don’t like his kid.”
“You don’t need to like him.” Dragon King’s cold voice was stern. “You just have to learn what he teaches you. At this level, there’s no way you can be my guard.”
Tie Linglong felt so aggrieved that tears came to her eyes. She turned around, ran to her room and pulling out her saber, started to swing it wildly.
“This was just a temporary careless. At the Golden Roc Fort she fell into the trap, why was Dragon King so angry? Become a killer, become a killer, hadn’t she killed too?”
But Tie Linglong sat on the bed and remembered that she had not actually killed anyone. She sighed deeply, suddenly remorseful, and even began to doubt her strengths.
Following that, something else happened that further revealed her weakness. She raised her head and noticed that there was someone else in the room, and she had not detected a thing.
Tie Linglong jumped out of the bed and grabbed the saber when she recognized that it was Dragon King’s new personal guard, Maid Lotus.
Tie Linglong did not like Maid Lotus either. This woman who always hiding in the shadows made Tie Linglong feel uncomfortable. Like now, she suddenly appeared without saying a word. Furthermore, it had been Maid Lotus who had replaced her and Chu Nanping as Dragon King’s personal guard.
Without her… Tie Linglong felt things would be different.
“What are you doing in my room?” Tie Linglong asked stiffly, not bothering disguise her hostility.
“Just looking at you.”
Maid Lotus’ voice was not loud and almost flat, but hearing it made people feel comfortable. Even though her face though was not smiling, her eyes were full of tenderness, making her look like an older sister.
Somehow, Tie Linglong began to like her, “But… You and I, we’re not friends.”
“Women are always familiar with each other. You just forgot.”
Tie Linglong has never heard something like that. She did not completely understand, but now, even the last trace of wariness towards Maid Lotus had disappeared, “You are like a fairy.”
Maid Lotus was indeed like a fairy, mysterious and ethereal. Even if standing in the dark, there seemed to be a light shining from her body.
“What about Shangguan Ru?”
“Sister Ru is a fairy too, but… you two are different, she is like … morning sunshine, you are like … evening sunset.” Tie Linglong finish her sentence haltingly, then immediately added, “You are both beautiful.”
Maid Lotus smiled, “You are a lovely girl. Tell me, why are you sad?”
Tie Linglong was not so naive that she would open up to a stranger, but with Maid Lotus, she had a strong desire to reveal everything. “Because Dragon King thinks I’m not good enough at kung fu and wants me to start from the beginning. And because Dragon King wants to marry a princess, but he should marry Sister Ru.”
“Do you feel helpless?”
Tie Linglong nodded, suddenly her eyes brightened again, “You have a plan, don’t you?”
“I have a plan. But I can’t carry it out.”
“Just tell me, I can do it. And even if Dragon King is not happy, he won’t kill me.” Tie Linglong’s green eyes flashed with strange light, she could not wait to run into Maid Lotus’ arms.
“Actually, it’s quite simple. Once your kung fu is good enough, you won’t need to bow to Master Shifu. What more, if the Princess no longer exists, Dragon King can’t marry her.”
Tie Linglong suddenly understood, she was a killer, she has just complained that she has not killed enough people, but who most worthy to kill than the Princess? However — “My technique is not good enough, even if I start training now, there won’t be enough time.”
“I can help you.”
“Can you? But Dragon King said that the sword technique depends entirely on me…”
“You said I was like a fairy. Well, fairies naturally have some unique kung fu training methods.”
“Then, will you help me? I will do everything you ask of me. You are too kind.” Tie Linglong’s breath came in gasps.
Lotus Maid raised her right hand, holding a yellow pill in three fingers, “Take my elixir, it’ll protect you as you practice and advance. This will surely make Dragon King sit up and take notice. Once you are done, killing will be a piece of cake.”
