Translator: Henyee Editor: Henyee
Just from a random, whimsical idea of King Dari’s, the reputation and status that Senior Shou had spent decades building had suddenly turned to ashes overnight. Even so, he still didn’t expect that for only a moment’s hesitation, he could be trapped by his former bodyguard and couldn’t escape yet again.
In fact, Senior Shou could continue his old businesses. Now that everyone knew that he had joined the fight for the throne on King Dari’s side, many speculators and hedgers, came one after the other, begging him to be their referrer, some of whom were even willing to pay a high price. It was Senior Shou himself who had turned down all these businesses and decided to quit.
He had gotten used to conducting business secretly. Once it became public, he felt uncomfortable and uneasy like an underground mole that was suddenly forced into the sun.
King Kuari was that sun. Senior Shou had planned to leave the Royal Court and stay far away from the maelstrom of right and wrong as soon as he doubled his savings through buying and selling cattle and sheep.
But King Dari, as well as his yellow-faced attendant, Fu Yuan, did not feel that they had done anything wrong and still insisted that he should continue to provide them information. And he perfunctorily agreed to do so.
But what was on his mind was, ‘It’s better to avoid trouble. It’ll be perfect if there’s no trouble.”
In the end, it turned out that his former bodyguard Bo Sang would cause him big trouble.
The two had gotten into a bit of a heated contention when Bo Sang had resigned. Senior Shou felt that he had treated Bo Sang quite well for the past few years. This saberman had mediocre kung fu skills and wasn’t very smart, and it was only with his help that had enabled Bo Sang to gain a foothold in the Royal Court, so he deserved Bo Sang’s unconditional allegiance. Bo Sang, however, thought differently. He believed that his allegiance was terminable; he would fight desperately to protect his lord before the contract ended, but once it ended, he was free.
These two free men were no longer lord and bodyguard, but they could still be friends. At least Bo Sang had thought this way. So, the first secret and safe place that crossed his mind after he caught the ‘treasure’ was Senior Shou’s new home in the livestock market.
“What are you doing here? I’ve got more than enough people.” Senior Shou was telling a dozen or so workers what to do when Bo Sang arrived. In fact, he listened more and said less because he had little experience in raising cattle and sheep. Upon noticing the former bodyguard arrive, he intended to speak in a sharp tone to teach him a lesson before deciding whether to accept an apology or not.
Unaware of the discontent of in his former lord’s words, Bo Sang excitedly whispered, “I have some… private property. I want to leave it with you.”
At that time, it was just after dark. It was not until two hours later that the riots that would envelop more than half of the slums would begin, and Shangguan Fei would kill a ‘Khan’s grandson’ by mistake.
Bo Sang was leading a thin horse with a few tattered bundles on it. He looked like a refugee but his expression was different. It was as if he had dug up a treasure and his eyes were glistening from its shining radiance.
Senior Shou didn’t believe that Bo Sang could have any valuable ‘private property’, and never believed that he would dare to do anything out of the norm. Partly out of curiosity, and partly out of magnanimity, he pointed to an isolated tent in the distance while saying, “Put it there. I have to be clear that I’m not sure if it’ll be safe. I may leave the Royal Court at any time, and you’ll have to keep an eye on your own stuff.”
“Got it.” Bo Sang led the lean horse happily to the tent.
The largest bundle on the horse caught Senior Shou’s attention because not only was it big but it was also a little odd in shape. It seemed to be a man inside.
Senior Shou’s curiosity lasted only a short while. He continued to communicate with the workers focused on breeding and herding. During the riots, he was so busy comforting people and protecting the animals that he nearly left his former bodyguard behind. As the riots gradually spread to the livestock market, he suddenly remembered that Bo Sang was useful right now. It was better to have a saberman guarding the corral than a dozen or so workers who could only add grass and pick up dung.
Bo Sang was shocked by the uninvited ‘intruder’ and had drawn out half his saber which also startled Senior Shou. “Are you crazy, you …”
Then he saw the hostage in the corner who was hastily tied with a rope and had bloodstains on his forehead, more dead than alive. It looked as though he had fainted.
The candlelight was dim and Senior Shou only had a quick glance so he hadn’t recognized the hostage’s identity. “You’re crazy, daring to kidnap a person in the Royal Court. Aren’t you afraid to die for money? Take him away, don’t get me involved. I don’t do this kind of business anymore.”
“It’s not a kidnapping. Look at who he is.”
As a middleman who had communicated with many different classes, Senior Shou knew more people than anyone else. He leaned over and looked closely for a moment, then his heart started beating so violently that it nearly jumped out of his mouth. “This is…”
“Right.” Bo Sang clenched his right fist and waved in the air, obviously thinking that he had done a big deal.
This was indeed a big deal, a deal so big that Senior Shou couldn’t bear. With his legs feeling like jelly, he sat by the hostage’s side, “You…”
“I found him in a small tavern. He exchanged clothes sneakily with his entourage. Then everyone else left, leaving him alone.” Bo Sang went to help his former lord up and continued, “I thought he was useful so I knocked him out and brought him back.”
Senior Shou shook off Bo Sang’s hand with great anger and pointed outside, saying, “What’s that noise? Is that the Norland Cavalry looking for him?”
“It can’t be, I saw a lot of strangers before I came. Maybe they were fighting.”
Although the two had recently left their old trade, the number of news that reached their ears had already sharply decreased. Neither of them knew that the unrest outside was premeditated.
The reason why Senior Shou had changed his trade at such a time was that he didn’t want to take risks, not to even mention getting involved in the kidnapping of the Khan’s grandson, especially when this Kuo Zhen was King Kuari’s brother. So his first reaction was to take the hostage away to a remote place and release him while the hostage was still unconscious. This way, the problem would be solved without surfacing.
Unfortunately, Kuo Zhen was unlucky enough to wake up at that moment and he happened to be bad-tempered. He had been beaten on the head and tied up, so one could imagine the extent of his rage. The first thing he said after opening his eyes immediately made Senior Shou change his mind. “So it was you. I knew you son of a bitch was a loyal dog of King Dari’s. My brother would have killed you long ago if he’d listened to me.”
“Misunderstanding, it’s all a misunderstanding, I didn’t …”
Kuo Zhen didn’t care if it was really a misunderstanding. As the grandson of Khan, no one in the whole prairie dared to lay a finger on him. These two little bugs of the slums had dared to jump on the lion’s face, they were really daring. So he cried out, “Help, I am Kuo …”
Out of instinct, Senior Shou dashed onto the hostage and covered his mouth. The more Kuo Zhen struggled, the harder Senior Shou pressed. Bo Sang also came to help. Soon after, the grandson of Khan fainted again.
Senior Shou finally realized what he had done. After checking Kuo Zhen’s breath and reaffirming that he was still alive, he felt relieved a bit. But his extinguished anger with the hostage situation soon flared up again, he slapped back at Bo Sang while shouting, “You little bastard, you want to kill me!”
Bo Sang dodged and asked with surprise, “Why would I want to kill you?”
Senior Shou was so angry that he wanted to cry. From the moment the Dragon King had shown up, everything had gone wrong for him. Even for this flock of sheep he had just bought, he had been cheated out of hundreds of taels. “Are you from Norland?”
“No, I come from the Western Regions,” answered Bo Sang puzzledly.
Senior Shou let out a long heavy sigh. He was very familiar with this former bodyguard of his but didn’t know much about his background. He should have thought of it earlier; how could a man of Norland not know how to herd? And nobody from Norland would lay their hands on a member of the royal Khan family no matter how whimsical they were.
“What should we do next? Ask for a ransom from King Kuari?” It was the first time Senior Shou had asked Bo Sang for advice, but his voice was so harsh that it sounded like he was grinding his teeth while spitting out the words.
“No, send him to the Dragon King. Kuo Zhen must know a lot of things. If the Dragon King is in a good mood, he may let me join the Dragon Army or even take me as his disciple,” Bo Sang said happily.
Senior Shou now knew the source of his bad luck. It was all because of that pale-faced young man. He really was a malicious star. “The Dragon King asked you to kidnap Khan’s grandson?”
“No, I decided to do it myself.”
For a moment, Senior Shou was so furious that he wanted to strangle his former bodyguard, and the next he was so afraid of King Kuari’s revenge that he wanted to commit suicide. In a daze, he ran out of the tent and sent someone to see what the riots were all about.
The rioting in the slums didn’t affect the livestock market much because its focus was on the people, not the animals. When it was confirmed that the purpose of the riots was not about Kuo Zhen, the huge ‘rock’ hanging in his heart finally settled down, but the one above his head was still slowly falling, and sooner or later it would break his head.
“Go to Dragon King and give him the man. I can’t keep him with me,” Senior Shou ordered his former bodyguard after he went back to the tent.
“I’ll go first thing in the morning.”
The result was that no one from the slums was allowed to leave the next morning.
With a strained heart, Senior Shou didn’t even close his eyes at all times. He tried to use his old connections and seek out some news in a roundabout way. He was very surprised when he learned that King Kuari had claimed that his brother had been killed in the riot.
Nothing happened. Although the slums were blockaded, there was no sign that King Kuari was secretly searching for his brother. It seemed that everyone believed Kuo Zhen had really died and the murderer was the Dragon King’s subordinate.
Although Senior Shou’s life had always been complicated and treacherous, the current situation was still beyond his understanding. He could sense that a conspiracy was brewing, but couldn’t uncover any clues related to it.
Kuo Zhen had not yet accepted his identity as a hostage and began cursing as soon as he woke up. Senior Shou had no choice but to stuff his mouth with a rag which made him go further and further out the way to offend King Kuari.
Senior Shou had tried to tell him the truth and even flatter the other side, only to receive angry stares of disbelief.
The hot potato had to be transferred to someone else as soon as possible. Therefore, when the encirclement was lifted, Senior Shou immediately ran to the Dragon King to inform him.
Senior Shou was worried about the Dragon King’s coming but also worried that he wouldn’t come. He was particularly worried about whether that young man would be like King Dari who acted on his own will and without any care for the safety of others or if he was even someone who sold others out in the blink of an eye. At a loss, Senior Shou simply stayed away from the tent where the hostage had been hidden and left all the trouble to Bo Sang.
After two days and nights without food and only a little water, Kuo Zhen had nearly died of hunger. But when he saw the Dragon King, he immediately sat up, showing that he knew the young man in front of him.
Seeing the dead man who had been smashed by Shangguan Fei sitting intact here, Gu Shenwei suddenly understood many things. He beckoned for Bo Sang to pull the rag out of the hostage’s mouth before asking, “What do you have to say?”
Kuo Zhen didn’t shout this time. Instead, he grunted and turned his head.
“Golden Roc Castle didn’t finish the task, and King Kuari is very unhappy.”
Upon hearing this, Kuo Zhen’s expression suddenly changed. Gu Shenwei then knew he had gotten it right. Han Fen had found a Golden Roc killer near the scene of the murder, and now that he thought it over carefully, he found that it was no coincidence.
