Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Shangguan Yun proposed no assassinations between Golden Roc Fort and the Dragon King. It meant that he intended to have a final fight with the Dragon King on the lake instead of the land.
The killers of Golden Roc Fort could easily defeat Dragon King in assassinations, but they had not made use of all their strengths. Up until now, the Fort had not sent their secret weapons, the black-masked assassins with the highest kung fu skills. Shangguan Yun had an advantage over the Dragon King in regards to assassinations, so he had no reason to stop fighting.
Shangguan Yun managed to persuade many people in Xiaoyao Lake, except for his half-brother. In his eyes, Shangguan Hong was just his messager.
Shangguan Hong thought the Third Young Master’s proposal was strange and unfeasible. He held his breath, and then breathed deeply. Noticing that the Dragon King kept silent, he felt relieved, believing he could guess the Dragon King’s thoughts. Then, he began to flatter him.
“This is Shangguan Yun’s scheme. Golden Roc Fort will spread it everywhere. If the Dragon King agrees, you’ll put yourself at a disadvantage or be labeled as an infamous killer. Besides, the Fort is very likely to organize an assassination, and then frame it on you…” Shangguan Hong said.
Shangguan Hong wasn’t very smart, and he was too scared to give a sound explanation for all of this. The more he said, the more terrified he felt, never coming to a conclusion.
He was deathly afraid of the Dragon King. He had not decided to betray the Dragon King until Shangguan Jianyi gave extremely profitable conditions that he couldn’t refuse. But now these conditions had vanished, and only the Dragon King’s saber was waiting for him.
Gu Shenwei lowered his head, wondering Shangguan Yun’s real purpose. But Shangguan Hong thought the Dragon King was considering whether or not to take his life. Considering it was his last chance to save himself, he said, “Dragon King, don’t forget that I’m the only one who knows the way through the secret passage in Golden Roc Fort.”
“Yeah. Do you mean the cave on the cliff of Golden Roc Fort? I know about it. That cave leads to the lake below. They only use it for the water supply at crucial times,” the Dragon King said.
Shangguan Hong’s face turned pale instantly, becoming whiter than the Dragon King’s. Then, he knelt down and burst into tears. He was crying like a child who had been caught doing something wrong.
He had thought that the Dragon King had been keeping him alive due to his knowledge of the secret passage. But now he could be killed anytime since Gu Shenwei already knew the truth.
The secret passage that Shangguan Hong referred to had disturbed Gu Shenwei for a while. But after a deep meditation, he only found one way to explain it: Golden Roc Fort was situated on the top of the mountain surrounded by cliffs, so it only had one passage. The Fort was protected by this passage, so they were unlikely to add another secret passage that enemy might find out about.
“The Fort is a tough place to attack, but it has one fatal defect — no water source. They rely on the water that is carried by oxcart from the foot of the mountain. Once under siege, it could be taken soon after its water supply was cut off,” thought Gu Shenwei.
“Therefore, if Golden Roc Fort does have a secret passage, the passage will lead to the lake below the cliffs,” Gu Shenwei guessed.
After observing Shangguan Hong’s response, he knew that his guess was right. Shangguan Hong had unwittingly told the Dragon King everything, and then begged him to keep him alive.
Shangguan Hong didn’t know much, but Gu Shenwei could imagine what the secret passage was like based upon his description.
It was impossible to cut a passage through the mountain from top to bottom. Those who had founded the Fort would have cut a trench along the cliffs, and then covered it with a crust made of thick iron sheets and mud. Some bulges might appear on the crust.
Having seen the terrace and statue on the cliffs before, Gu Shenwei thought that his idea was feasible. “That terrace was perhaps made to cover the secret passage,” he guessed.
“The Barren Sect disciples paved a staircase with iron spikes, but they didn’t discover the passage. It might have never occurred to them that the secret passage was right under their feet,” Gu Shenwei thought.
This secret passage was useless to him now, but Gu Shenwei decided to leave Shangguan Hong alive for the moment. As a messenger, he, the son of the Supreme King, might be useful soon.
The last one Gu Shenwei questioned was the infamous robber, Chipo.
Facing the Dragon King, Chipo showed no fear or uneasiness. He answered his questions without hesitation, as he was not hiding any great secrets.
“The Supreme King paid for my life, so I served him. Then, the Third Young Master set me free, so I volunteered to follow him. It’s my honor to die for him,” he said.
“The Supreme King bought your life because you had a list of bandits of the Western Region. I guess you don’t have the list now?” Gu Shenwei said.
“So what? I gave him the list in exchange for my freedom. It was a good deal,” he replied.
“Golden Roc Fort won the bandits’ support to increase their troops. Now that they’ve achieved their purpose, you’re worthless to them. Shangguan Yun left you here because you’re insignificant,” the Dragon King continued.
“Save your words, Dragon King. The third Young Master is destined to achieve great things, so he will never act indecisively. Even though you’re skilled in martial arts, you’re still just a killer. Killers work for others, while kings have others working for them. Even robbers are better than you. You’re no match for the Third Young Master. Your death will be soon after mine,” Chipo said with laugh.
“Shangguan Yun won so many faithful followers within only a year,” Gu Shenwei thought.
“What do you think of the proposal that Shangguan Yun made to stop assassinations between the two armies?” Gu Shenwei asked.
Chipo was shocked. He thought that the Dragon King would be irritated by his ironic words and kill him immediately. However, the Dragon King did not get angry, instead asking another question politely.
“It’s a good proposal. The Third Young Master once said, ‘The Supreme King attained his status as a killer, but his fame as a killer has surpassed his fame as a king. To be a real king, you should weaken killers’ influences. It means to diminish the killers’ numbers and turn them into a group hiding in the dark. As for the fight between kings, the army should be the only force they resort to. Even if Golden Roc Fort successfully assassinated the Dragon King and the Dragon Army broke up, it would do the Fort no good. Instead, the fight would be regarded as a common massacre in Jianghu, and the Supreme King’s army would be a laughingstock,’” Chipo replied.
“These sound like the words of Shangguan Yun,” thought Gu Shenwei.
“Others have spent years working out a set of theories, but Shangguan Yun figured out countless theories when he was shut up in the dungeon for years. He could give everyone a theory, and the theory would work on them,” he mused further.
“Shangguan Yun belittled killers so that bandits like Chipo would feel important. He was smart to please the bandits without ever mentioning them,” Gu Shenwei thought some more himself.
Shangguan Yun was a different person in Golden Roc Fort. Even if he was able to return to the Fort and become the successor of the Supreme King, he probably already had a method in place to manage it. Gu Shenwei knew a lot about Golden Roc Fort, but he could not use any of it to fight against Shangguan Yun.
Maid Lotus restored her identity as a guard of the Dragon King. Then, she ordered all the disciples of New Moon Hall who were over forty to head to the periphery to keep watch. The only exception was Han Fen, who was the only one she trusted.
She had heard about Shangguan Yun’s proposal on assassinations. As Shangguan Hong expected, the news began to spread after dawn. Now, even the soldiers in the military camp had heard about it.
The soldiers supported this proposal, indeed. Golden Roc killers didn’t kill many of their companions, but this had already caused panic among them. Those alive were extremely nervous, thinking they might be killed at anytime.
They weren’t afraid to be killed in the real battlefield, but they dreaded the killers who took action at night. Even the swordsmen from the Great Snowmountain, who had fought against Golden Roc Fort for years, did not want to live in fear every day, always wary of the saber which might stab them at anytime.
“Why did Shangguan Yun do it?” Maid Lotus asked with confusion. Since she had traced Shangguan Yun for two months, she had gotten to know him better. She never believed that the Third Young Master would do anything to weaken his strength.
“He has two purposes,” Gu Shenwei replied. He had figured out the game Shangguan Yun was playing. “Firstly, his proposal might be sincere. If Golden Roc Fort wants to show off its strength to Norland, they have victory in the battlefield, using their army. Secondly, he wants to keep Shangguan Jianyi safe,” he continued.
Maid Lotus said with her eyes wide open, “Shangguan Jianyi?”
“Yeah,” Gu Shenwei nodded. He thought it was Shangguan Yun’s main purpose. He proceeded, “Shangguan Yun hid his identity and pretended to be his uncle. In this way, Shangguan Jianyi has to disappear and can’t show up in public, or he might be in danger. Shangguan Yun ran away from the west. If I can take action immediately, then I can manage to assassinate Shangguan Jianyi before the news gets to the Shuangquan Village in the east.”
“Now Shangguan Yun’s non-assassination proposal makes it hard for me to assassinate Shangguan Jianyi,” thought Gu Shenwei.
“I don’t care about others’ positions, but I have to consider my soldier’s stance,” Gu Shenwei thought to himself.
“I can go and assassinate Shangguan Jianyi for you,” Maid Lotus offered, “since the proposal didn’t reach New Moon Hall.”
Gu Shenwei refused.
Whether or not to stop assassinations was not the only problem that Shangguan Yun had left to the Dragon King. The trust crisis was even more difficult to solve.
“Hu Shining reminded me that I couldn’t trust the killer apprentices. But in fact, besides the kids, anyone else who met Shangguan Yun might have been persuaded by him,” thought Gu Shenwei.
“Did Shangguan Ru really refuse all of herThird Brother’s requests? Was Maid Lotus affected by Shangguan Yun after tracing him for almost two months?” he wondered.
“After considering Shangguan Fei’s words, even I, myself, think that Shangguan Yun’s proposal makes sense to some degree,” he mused.
“Now my top task is to erase all traces left by Shangguan Yun,” Gu Shenwei meditated.
Later, Chipo was beheaded in public. This time, he indeed died, and no one paid to buy his life.
Gu Shenwei had kept him alive because he needed to give the citizens of the Hui Kingdom an answer. Chipo was announced as the chief criminal involved in sieging the city, the Queen’s treason and the ministers’ rebellion. His infamous reputation made these crimes seem more credible.
Then, the Dragon Army took their leave and returned to the Stone Kingdom.
Gu Shenwei took the young prince with him. The Prince had returned to the Hui Nation and succeeded the throne. Given that, the Dragon King decided to hold the Prince’s younger brother hostage as collateral. The new King of the Hui Nation was not afraid that Dragon King would kill his younger brother, and believed he would send him back.
Soon Shangguan Hong became a messenger again. He left for Shuangquan Village to deliver a better, non-assassination proposal on behalf of the Dragon King. This proposal mainly expressed that Golden Roc Fort shoud admit that Dragon King possessed Xiaoyao Lake.
Dugu Xian had once said that it would at least take a year to train a qualified army. Gu Shenwei thought now that he could utilize this chance to buy himself some more time.
Prime Minister Zhong Heng greeted the Dragon King anxiously. “The Dragon King’s wedding can’t be put off any longer. But how do I mention it to the Dragon King in front of Maid Lotus?” he wondered.
