Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
In the quiet post station, there was a dead silence almost within reach.
A truly dreadful silence. Gu Shenwei immediately recalled that feeling when he was carrying corpses in Golden Roc Fort.
Maid Lotus was on guard against any possible dangers. She took out a small porcelain bottle, opened the lid and took a sniff. Then she raised it to Gu Shenwei’s nose, regardless of whether he was willing or not.
Gu Shenwei took a quick whiff, and the smell of rancid salted fish rushed straight to his head.
Gu Shenwei was amazed at the fact that although Maid Lotus seemed thin, she always carried around with her endless bottles and bags. He also had a deeper understanding of the occult sciences from New Moon Hall.
The two of them did not enter the courier station and quickly retreated. Maid Lotus explained her actions earlier, “The Undying Corpse Poison is one of the most advanced poisons in New Moon Hall. It spreads through the corpse and the toxicity will only become stronger. There is an antidote, but it is rare.”
“Won’t it be endless if it continues to spread like this; until everything is wiped out,” Gu Shenwei inquired, slightly shocked.
“The Undying Corpse Poison also has its shortcomings: It can be countered with fire,” Maid Lotus admitted.
It was not long before the courier station was ablaze and the poison removed before it began to spread.
The fire grew more fierce, but nobody from the town cried for help. Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus checked the households one by one and realized that the town had already been abandoned. Hundreds of families seemed to have moved away overnight, and they were very hasty in doing so, as apparent by the many heavy belongings left behind.
It was already light outside when the two of them left the town. They headed toward the capital of the An Kingdom, but could only walk slowly, as their horses were too fatigued.
Gu Shenwei suddenly remembered something. “If the whole town had fled, then where did the corpse in the station came from,” he asked.
Maid Lotus seemed reluctant to answer this question at first, but she remembered that she had promised to tell Dragon King everything about New Moon Hall, so she said, “It is very difficult to prepare the Undying Corpse Poison. A person must sacrifice themselves. That person must consume various poisons for many years, before committing suicide at the right time and place. The sacrifice must be voluntary; only then will they have the determination and willpower to consume all those poisons without being frightened to death.”
Gu Shenwei did not speak for a while. The more he knew about New Moon Hall, the more he thought it was evil. “No wonder all the newcomers became insane. Normal people would not be able to remain inside, however—”
Maid Lotus did not seem to have changed at all, except for the occasional imposing demeanor, she was still the same as before: cold and restrained just like a few years ago, not a sign of madness was evident.
“To even use such a rare poison just to get rid of you, they spared no effort indeed,” said Maid Lotus.
“Or perhaps they only used this as a last resort? They knew that I was very familiar with the Undying Corpse Poison, but they still used this approach, which yielded no result,” she added.
The two of them spent the rest of the time focused on the journey ahead. Maid Lotus did not look thoughtful at all. However, around noon, she actually took the initiative and brought up a topic which might have seemed a bit abrupt. It also helped to clarify some doubts in Gu Shenwei’s mind.
“Our opinions were divided on the matter,” Maid Lotus spoke. “The secret techniques of the New Moon Hall are certainly unique, but it is easy for them to provoke hatred. Just like the Undying Corpse Poison, although the poison itself is powerful and may even wipe out a whole nation, once it spreads and people know that it comes from New Moon Hall, everybody will be deterred by the danger and will surely come together to attack us. New Moon Hall definitely won’t be able to survive. The agreement of the Four Truths Temple back in those days was reasonable.”
Many years ago, due to pressure from all sides, Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall signed a truce at the Four Truths Temple. Golden Roc Fort would have to give up on using occult sciences and could occupy the Stone Castle, while New Moon Hall retained their occult sciences but had to retreat into the desert.
In contrast, Golden Roc Fort was only good at assassination, and this was much more easily accepted by the world.
“Master understands this as well, that was why she was trying all sorts of ways to strengthen our sect’s Kung Fu and lessen the reliance on the occult sciences. ” She continued about why New Moon Hall was so adamant in getting the Wayless Book, and why she cooperated with Old Man Mu.
“I shared the same sentiment as Master, but there are still many disciples who insisted that the occult sciences remain as the essence of the sect and Kung Fu is non-essential.”
Maid Lotus was trained by Golden Roc Fort and naturally did not like the occult sciences very much. The reason why she did not become mad was that she never involved herself too deeply in the evil crafts. Gu Shenwei secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Guan Shang has excellent Kung Fu, but even she is on the traitors’ side,” Gu Shenwei said. He could still not understand.
Maid Lotus snorted with disdain, she had always been wary of Guan Shang. “The words of the high priest in the Land of Fragrance were somewhat reliable, to say the least. New Moon Hall and Golden Roc Fort were one family, originally. Although the emphasis was different, there was always something in common. I believe Guan Shang went insane from the training to be a black-masked assassin. She was infatuated with the secret techniques of the New Moon Hall, despite knowing very little about them. She just didn’t dare be too obvious about it when I was around.”
Gu Shenwei was hesitant — Ever since Maid Lotus represented New Moon Hall and proposed to cooperate with the Great Snowmountain, he had in mind a question that he been wanting to ask — and this was a good time to inquire. “What is Master Han’s main purpose in revamping New Moon Hall? Surely it was not only to recapture Golden Roc Fort and avenge these several generations,” he asked.
Maid Lotus looked down and did not speak. She deliberated as to which side she would be loyal. Gu Shenwei did not pressure her to answer. The two of them walked in silence for a while before Maid Lotus said, “Master’s ambitions are the same as that of Supreme King. Perhaps they might not be as big as Supreme King’s, but she is interested in the whole of Jade City.”
This was very different from the conditions presented by Maid Lotus during the first negotiation between the two sides. At that time, New Moon Hall had claimed that they only wanted to occupy Golden Roc Fort, and that Dragon King could take over Jade City.
But Gu Shenwei believed what she said now more than before.
“It was just a vague idea from Master,” She said. Maid Lotus did not want Dragon King to have too many suspicions, so she added, “She never really said clearly, it is just my guess. Moreover, the Western Region is so vast, I’m sure it can accommodate both the Great Snowmountain and New Moon Hall.”
“All thanks to Supreme King. He caused upheaval in the Western Region, and in turn, made room for both of us.”
Maid Lotus let out a smile.
She seldom smiled, and whenever she smiles, she seems to have suddenly changed into a different person— someone who should have turned out as how Huo Yun should be: without the experiences of Golden Roc Fort and New Moon Hall.
Gu Shenwei suppressed his sympathy by thinking grimly instead, “She always had a way to win the trust of others.”
The horses regained some of their strength, and the two of them sped up, leaving the empty town and their impromptu conversation behind.
Although the An Kingdom occupied the south of Xiaoyao Lake, its land was narrow, long, and winding. The capital itself was not far from Gulping Wind Gorge. Maid Lotus and Gu Shunwei already managed to spot the high city walls by noon before the sky even turned dark. They also realized where the residents of the small town had gone —
The fat chief had hosted an open banquet for Dragon King, and many passing businessmen were in attendance. The news of the arrival of Maid Lotus and Gu Shenwei to the An Kingdom spread quickly.
In less than a day, news of Dragon King leading hundreds and thousands of men to enter Xiaoyao Lake from Wushan spread like wildfire, and it created chaos in the An Kingdom. Even the original rumormongers and the businessmen who once drank with Dragon King were all frightened by the panic they had created. They traveled day and night, trying to escape as far as possible.
Therefore, the residents of the town were not expelled by the traitors from New Moon Hall but fled because they were frightened by the news of Dragon King.
More and more residents attempted to seek refuge as they were getting closer to the capital of the An Kingdom. Everybody was talking about the terrible Dragon King and his army of tens of thousands, yet nobody recognized that the pale-looking young man walking beside them was Dragon King himself.
Gu Shenwei was at a loss whether to cry or laugh at this situation. The Great Snowmountain army had no choice but to travel south as they were driven to a corner by Golden Roc Fort and only entered the Xiaoyao Lake from Wushan after going around in circles, which earned them such a horrid reputation.
By mixing in with the fleeing An Kingdom residents trying to enter the capital and listening to their conversations, while adding in a few quips of his own from time to time, Gu Shenwei slowly came to understand where their fear came from.
Wushan was the dividing line for Xiaoyao Lake, as well as the whole of the Western Region, so to speak. Toward the north, there was the civilized area that consisted of kings and ministers who were particular about hierarchy and understood etiquette and sense of shame. The south, however, included the tribes in Wushan, where they were labeled savages. There were chiefs and tribal chiefs who fought constantly and killed endlessly. The people were bloodthirsty and aggressive, and they used swords to settle any disputes.
Several groups of businessmen and machetemen who entered Wushan should have eliminated the misunderstandings from the outsiders, however, it was the opposite: Every person who entered Wushan from Gulping Wind Gorge described the barbarians in the mountain with more horror after coming out — only then would people trust their words and be willing to listen.
After fleeing from Golden Roc Fort, Gu Shenwei often hid in remote areas and spent time with the swordsman from the Great Snowmountain. He did not think the tribes in Wushan were anything special and even assumed that the residents of the An Kingdom were kicking up a fuss and somewhat ignorant.
But he understood these people’s thoughts and soon realized they were “smart.”
It was said that the general sent by Golden Roc Fort to besiege the capital of Stone Kingdom was recruiting soldiers in several countries at large, resulting in almost zero young people in various countries. But on the way to the city, Gu Shenwei saw many young men in their prime — men who managed to avoid conscription and instead were consumed by fear because of Dragon King and his 100,000 armies.
There was a large crowd gathered in front of the city gate and they were quarreling with the guards guarding the gate.
Not only the residents of the An Kingdom, but the powerful citizens in the city were also frightened: The army of the An Kingdom had gone to join the siege of the capital of Stone Kingdom. With the defenses depleted, they could not even gather 100 men. Moreover, with the increasing number of refugees, they were even more frightened that there would be a large number of spies coming in. Therefore, they ordered the city gates to be closed an hour earlier.
This decision immediately caused many rumors and riots among the residents. Everybody assumed that Dragon King’s army was coming soon and argued incessantly with the guards to open the city gates.
The guard leader was a man in his forties. He received orders to close the gate, but he felt sympathy for the residents on the outside, so he spoke loudly to the residents below, “Everybody, listen to me! Everyone, please listen to me! As of yet, there is still no sight of the enemy. If Dragon King is here, he would have gone straight to the capital. Please go home, everybody. It’s safer than here.”
No one believed him. Some threatened while others tried to bribe, and someone recognized the identity of the leader. “Aren’t you… whoever from whoever’s house? I am an old neighbor of yours! Let me in, just me alone,” said the resident.
The guard leader was unable to suppress the deafening grievances from outside the gate.
Gu Shenwei listened to Maid Lotus for a while. Just as he was about to climb over the city wall and go somewhere with fewer people, someone on the city wall shouted, “The King has run away! The King has run away! We are all being thrown to Dragon King now!”
Gu Shenwei did not wish for Dragon King to have such a bad reputation, but he realized there might be a lot of benefits to gain by using this infamy.
