Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Only on the 7th day after departing Hui Kingdom and entering the boundary between the desert and Gobi Desert, did they find the a water source. It was a small spring, named Lifesaver Spring.
They stoppd to rest, particularly for the sake of the horses, who needed to regain their strength before the next five to six day trek.
Wildhorse had been following them, keeping a distance of one or two miles during the day and less than one mile at night. He neither put forward any requests nor lent a hand to rescue people, even occasionally disappearing for an hour or two before reappearing again.
After two days of being in the sun, Old Man Mu looked worse for wear. His skin draped loosely over his body like a ragdoll, and only after the sun set did he regain some energy.
As long as he had the strength to open his mouth, he never stopped babbling, boasting about his excellent kung fu, commenting on all kinds of stunts and coercing people to release him. Sometimes he would even stealthily use Seven Magical Tones to make Shangguan Hong uneasy.
Maid Lotus spared Old Man Mu’s life so that his knowledge could be used to perfect New Moon Hall’s kungfu. She had little to worry about. After another five days under the sun, Old Man Mu would lose all his force and skill, and then he would naturally succumb to her control.
Except for Shangguan Ru, the three men in the team were looking forward to the death of Old Man Mu. It was at her request that Maid Lotus allowed him to put on a thin black gauze during the day to marginally relieve the pain.
At dusk, when the team arrived in the Lifesaver Spring, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus stood guard against Wildhorse while Shangguan Hong filled each member’s water bag with clean water. Shangguan Fei, who could not stand Old Man Mu’s nagging, went to sleep a distance away.
He was so exhausted that fall asleep immediately, dreaming that he was still the Ninth Young Master of Golden Roc Fort, and was being served by the slaves in Stone Castle.
Old Man Mu was left with Shangguan Ru alone. In a hoarse voice, he whispered, “Is your name Shangguan Ru?”
Shangguan Ru ignored him. Although she could not bear to watch Old Man Mu suffer, she was quietly aware that he was a vicious demon.
“I really can’t tell that you are the daughter of Supreme King.” Old Man Mu was used to talking to himself, so he did not feel embarrassed at all. “It is said that Supreme King has 9 sons and 8 daughters, among them, the Tenth Young Master resembles her father the most. However, looking at you, I don’t think that you are… ruthless enough.”
Only a few people were aware that the the killing desire of Shangguan Ru had disappered. To the residents of Jade City, Tenth Young Master was still the fake boy who desired to be the Young Master. Many people thought that the reason why she was forced to put on women’s clothing and placced under house arrest was because her killing intent was too strong.
Shangguan Ru remained silent. Dragon King and others would come back soo, Old Man Mu did not have much time. “An old man like me knows the most about little girl’s inner thoughts, I am quite experienced at my age. Dragon King had an affair with that woman, and you feel wretched, don’t you?”
Shangguan Ru blushed rosily, immediately opening her mouth to refute, “No, that’s nonsense.”
Old Man Mu chuckled. Over the past two days, his eyes had not spared a single detail. He clearly saw the personalities of and complicated relationships between the five people.
“Just take it that I’m talking nonsense. With you is Dragon King, with tens of thousands of swordsmen under him, and the other is the high-ranking member of New Moon Hall, who has exquisite sword craft and can keep pace with Dragon King. Furthermore, she will have learned the occult sciences by now, and is a suitable companion of Dragon King. Ah, they were born a pair. It will be difficult for them to seperate in the future. They will give birth to a lot of sons and daughters, and might even creat a small Golden Roc Fort… ”
Shangguan Ru thought that she should be angry, but she only felt sad, “You are talking nonsense. Dragon King… will marry the Princess.”
“Yes, the Princess, but he is Dragon King. It will not be strange for him to have dozens of wives. But it is unfortunate that some will not even be among that dozen.”
Old Man Mu’s humiliation had gone too far. The flush on Shangguan Ru’s face faded away and she said coldly, “I am what I am. Nobody is qualified to criticise. If you want me to save you, forget about it. You are a devil who kills people without blinking an eye. I will never let you do evil to the world again. You deserve your suffering. Think about those who were killed by you, and their relatives and friends.”
” I’ve been thinking about it.” Old Man Mu argued, “These two days, I’ve only managed to survive relying on imaging their look of horror when they died. Little girl, you don’t know the pleasure of killing people. Let me tell you… ”
Shangguan Ru did not wish to listen any further and turned round to leave. Old Man Mu changed the subject quickly. He had misjudged. This little girl was not what he imagined, she could not be persuaded by sordid affairs. Desperately, he called, “Wait a minute. I’ll be serious.”
As Shangguan Ru was the only guardian, she could not go too far. Hearing the words, she stopped.
“Look at your skill, you must have learnt Wayless Qigong. Did you learn it secretly?”
Wayless Qigong was one of the top manuals in Golden Roc Fort. It had always been kept hidden and only passed on to the King’s successor. Old Man Mu must have guessed that Shangguan Ru had not acquired her skill from a formal way.
“It’s none of your business.”
“Yes, I don’t care whether. Golden Roc Fort has Wayless Qigong, and my manual is not bad either, but I did not expect that Dragon King and Maid Lotus’s Dajue Book of Swordcraft was so powerful. It is said that this sword craft was originally a unique skill in the Fort. Why aren’t you capable of it?”
Shangguan Ru did not reply.
Old Man Mu’s words must have hit home and he spoke with more confidence, “Alas, Dragon King and Maid Lotus are traitors of Golden Roc Fort, that they should know more kung fu than the daughter of Supreme King. This is unreasonable.”
“What is unreasonable is that people like you are still alive, just like… Golden Roc Fort.”
“Yes, yes, you are right. But I feel bad for you.”
Shangguan Ru turned around and saw Dragon King and Maid Lotus walking shoulder to shoulder through the dusk. On her other side, Shangguan Hong stumbled back, bringing a dozen water sacks.
“The two of them, having learnt seven chapters of Wayless Qigong, thought that they were invincible. That’s ridiculous. If it hadn’t been for my carelessness, hum… ” Old Man Mu was still rambling.
Shangguan Ru was slightly surprised by how much Old Man Mu knew about Wayless Qigong.
“In fact, it’s only half — or the greater part – of the divine kung fu. There are still several chapters behind it. Only after learning all of it can one be truly invincible. I feared that manual, that is why I did not dare to come to Golden Roc Fort to start a fight.”
Shangguan Ru looked at Old Man Mu skeptically. The seven chapters of “Wayless Book” did not seem to be finished, but there were only seven chapters in Golden Roc Fort.
Old Man Mu chuckled again, knowing that the following words would shock the little girl, “There are 8 chapters in Golden Roc Fort, don’t you know? Supreme King has another chapter in his hand. He thought that he was the only one who knew the secret. But I know and I just keep a distance to avoid starting a fight.”
Shangguan Ru’s doubts vanished. Her killing desire was already gone, what more did she care about how many chapters Wayless Qigong had?
Dragon King and Maid Lotus were approaching. Old Man Mu had no more time to beat around the bush. He said eagerly, “Let me go, I will help you get chapter 8. With your current foundation, you are bound to surpass them in a year’s practice. By then, will Dragon King not come to grovel like a dog?”
Old Man Mu had overestimated his persuasion. Shangguan Ru paid no heed.
In the middle of the night, Gu Shenwei asked everyone to get up and hurry on with the journey. The camp of Great Snowmountain was likely to come under siege. He must take the survivors out of danger before the camp was broken into and more people died.
Even though knowing that Wildhorse would not fall for it, Maid Lotus still sprinkled short-acting poison into the spring. The contaminated spring water would kill people within three days.
The next few days passed without disturbance. Like a stubborn child, Wildhorse followed them all the way, keeping an appropriate distance, and never taking any action. When pursued, he retreated.
Old Man Mu was getting weaker and weaker. Although he still did not give up persuading the people in the team to set him free, he slowly lost the strength to speak. Five days later, he could only glance at the five faces one by one with hope, especially Shangguan Ru, who was his greatest hope.
Shangguan Ru became more silent and did not say a word for several days. The five people in the team had known each other since an early age, but the other four could not a shadow of the Tenth Young Master.
But everyone was hurrying on with the journey, and nobody took it too seriously.
Six days after Old Man Mu was captured, the team finally walked out of the deserts. There was still no human being in sight, but clusters of shrubs gradually appeared, a faint burst of green struggling in the late winter.
That afternoon, when the setting sun was still shining, Shangguan Ru spoke for the first time in a few days, saying she would leave the team.
“I go until here. I have to leave.”
“Where to?” Gu Shenwei blurted out in surprise. He thought she wanted to return to Jade City too.
The bumpy path led to the northwest, but Shangguan Ru looked south, “Over there, I’ve always wanted to travel.”
Wandering Jianghu had been Shangguan Ru’s dream since she was a child. Gu Shenwei suddenly recalled that he had once gone down the mountain, carrying her on his back, before sending her back to Stone Castle again. He said, “I hope you… ”
“Don’t forget, we are enemies.” Shangguan Ru interrupted his words.
“Sister, you are penniless. How far you can go? Why don’t you come back to Jade City with me? Maybe… ” Shangguan Fei still had bore the faint hope that they could earn their father’s forgiveness, but his persuasion was half-hearted. Shangguan Ru shook her head and did not say a word.
Shangguan Hong opened his mouth, then hesitated, feeling that this matter had nothing to do with himself. He swallowed and said nothing.
Gu Shenwei seemed to have a lot of words to say, but he said nothing.
Shangguan Ru rode on a horse. She had already made up her mind a few days ago. Her gaze moved from Dragon King’s face to Maid Lotus’, and she only said one sentence, “Congratulations, for acquiring the Wayless Qigong.”
With that, she spurred the horse and rode away.
Gu Shenwei suddenly understood.
Old Man Mu had recognized that Maid Lotus was a master of New Moon Hall. It was at this point that Shangguan Ru realized that everything had just been a plot. Slave Huan and Maid Lotus had used her to steal the Wayless Qigong.
Shangguan Ru had not even considered Slave Huan, who had hidden his surname and defected to fort Jin Peng, traitorous. But stealing the Wayless Book was undoubtedly a betrayal.
She had put her trust in Slave Huan, which proved to be the wrong choice.
Gu Shenwei made no excuses though he knew that Shangguan Ru had misunderstood him.
“Let’s go,” he said. His voice was so cold and hard that it could not fool anyone, even Shangguan Hong, who pursed her lips and gazed at the direction which Shangguan Ru had left.
“Ah.” Old Man Mu who had barely spoken the whole day, heaved a sigh.
That same night, Old Man Mu, who had not been able to recover his ability, magically disappeared.
