Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
On the first day of the competition, Shangguan Fei had won three games in a row and earned a small reputation. But there were no deaths and no splatters of blood, so the audience was more interested in the Dragon King who had left early and King Kuari who had been forced to hand over the gambled items.
The next day, the grumpy King Rizhu had unexpectedly relented and canceled the bet, which caused the audience’s expectations about the contest to plummet. They didn’t expect that Shangguan Fei would bring them a surprise.
He won yet again, three games in a row.
In the first contest, he still appeared frightened and only circled around the enemy, eliciting the catcalls of countless scorners. Only after a dozen or so moves did he gather enough courage to fight back. Feeling that his opponent was not that strong, he slowly calmed down and gradually shortened the distance between him and his opponent, and finally hit the target with his thirty-fifth move.
The most hesitant punch was also the most powerful one. Half of his opponent’s body had disappeared, leaving only two legs supporting a mangled body, standing stiffly.
Shangguan Fei didn’t run away from the flesh and blood spraying at him and instead stood there in a daze, his heart bursting with fear. He didn’t expect that the combination of his internal energy and the Five Hole Punch technique taught by Old Man Mu would exert such a horrific power.
The Five Hole Punch, which was originally a set of Taoist kung fu moves to build one’s body, had been transformed into a ruthless killing move by Old Man Mu. This set of fist technique was very hard to practice, and even Old Man Mu hadn’t reached the highest level after spending so many years practicing. But Shangguan Fei’s internal energy was unique and the two strands of internal Qi, one yin and one yang, greatly eased the difficulty level of the most intricate portions of the Five Hole Punch.
Time was short so Old Man Mu only taught him some simple theories of the fist technique, which he had tried out and they really were powerful.
Anxious and doubtful, Shangguan Fei had a bloodstained faced, but to the audience, it looked indescribably ferocious.
The silence respect given to the dead only lasted three breaths. When the legs collapsed, loud cheers rang out across the western suburbs of the Royal Court. This was the kind of scene they had wanted to see and this was the kind of scene that worth postponing work and making a special trip for.
It was not that Shangguan Fei had not received any praise or appreciation before. Praise from servants and relatives was actually a part of his daily life in the castle. After following the Dragon King, he had occasionally been praised for his service, but even all this added up together was not as real and exciting as the cheers that filled his ears now.
When he was very little, he already knew that the praise of the servants was not reliable because that was their job. Even if the lord fell, they would first compliment and then start thinking up excuses. Ever since he had been abandoned by his family, his success was due to the Dragon King’s plan and none of it could be attributed to himself.
This time, he was sure that the Dragon King hadn’t made any arrangement. This time, the cheers of the strangers were all for him.
Shangguan Fei still felt fearful, but under the fear, there seemed to be a layer of something that could repel the fear and prevent it from spreading all over his body.
The next two contests were shorter and cleaner than the first one. Shangguan Fei beat his opponents to death in the twenty-first and twelveth moves respectively. He had better control of his internal energy and as a result, the scenes caused by his fist techniques were not as bloody as the first, but the crowd nonetheless cheered more generously than before.
“This is the man who killed the brother of King Kuari!”
“This is the fist technique he used to kill the brother of King Kuari!”
For the first time in his life, Shangguan Fei felt like a ‘hero.’ Like a teenager who had taken his first drink and was experiencing his first bout of drunkenness, he felt dazed yet wide awake simultaneously. He seemed to be floating among the clouds, up and down, looking down upon the human masses and drawing delicious nourishment from their feelings of respect, fear, fondness, disgust, and so on.
He couldn’t describe the feeling, only wishing that the Dragon King could give him some suggestions, but the Dragon King was not there. The guards of the Dragon Army all came up to push and shove him affectionately but could not say anything meaningful.
Back at the camp of the Land of Fragrance, he finally found a soul mate.
Old Man Mu was still lying in bed and munching on a large bone. With a simple glance at Shangguan Fei, he immediately described how he felt with pinpoint accurately. “Have you had your first taste of freedom?”
“That’s freedom?”
“Haha, of course not. If that is freedom, isn’t it too easy to get? You’re not even close. There were no so-called ‘martial arts experts’ on the competition field. On top of you, there are still a lot of guys who can shit on your head and piss all over your body as they wish. If you want real freedom, you gotta beat them all.”
Old Man Mu’s ‘outlook on freedom’ had had no effect on Shangguan Ru but it caused a storm in Shangguan Fei’s mind.
“I can defeat everyone if I master the Five Hole Punch?” His voice was quivering.
Old Man Mu pointed at Shangguan Fei with the bone in his hand. “If the old me, who had an average amount of power, wanted to shit on your head, would you dare resist?”
Shangguan Fei really didn’t like this kind of metaphor, shaking his head in response. “No. Even others would not dare.”
“That’s it. I can live freely with my Five Hole Punch. Why can’t you?”
Shangguan Fei giggling asked, “I want to learn your fist techniques.”
Old Man Mu nibbled the last bit of meat on the bone, threw it on the ground, and held up his oily hands. “Do you know how I mastered my peerless kung fu skills so well at the beginning?”
“No.”
“By carrying a urinal and running errands for my Master. I had to figure out what my Master was thinking with a simple glance and I had to get what my Master wanted even if I had to risk my life and pretending that it was easy later. If you want to be free, you have to start with enslavement. To put it bluntly, you have to be more humble than the lowliest slave, and more shameless than the most shameless bitch.”
Shangguan Fei’s face paled. If he could bear such pain and humiliation, he wouldn’t have been abandoned by his father. “Do I have to suffer so miserably?”
Old Man Mu looked at him gravely as though he had been insulted. “I licked my Master’s feet and wiped his bottom. Are you ready?”
Shangguan Fei retched a few times, his face turning paler. “I, I … Can’t I do it step by step and not do something so disgusting in the first place?”
Old Man Mu jumped out of bed and pointed at Shangguan Fei, laughing out loud. “Idiot, I had nothing at that time so I could only give up my dignity to please my Master. But since you have an amazing martial arts manual, we can just trade it for it. We are making a deal, not becoming Master and disciple. Of course, if you are unwilling to hand over the martial arts manual, you can choose to be my disciple.”
“I’m willing.” Shangguan Fei was overjoyed. As long as he didn’t have to touch Old Man Mu’s shit and urine, he was willing to give up anything. “I’m not trying to hide it but I have only learned the basics. There’s still a lot of material that Dragon King and Lotus haven’t taught me.”
“Hey, even the Dragon King has only figured out a little bit of this kung fu. Well, he’s too stupid.” Old Man Mu nervously looked around and made sure there was no anyone else nearby before continuing, “If I were him, I would have fixed all the loopholes by now.”
This was exactly what Shangguan Fei wanted to hear the most, but he was still cautious, warningly saying, “Do not let the Dragon King know. He won’t be happy.”
“Do I look as stupid as you?”
Shangguan Fei didn’t know what to answer, so he reluctantly shook his head.
“Don’t worry. The Dragon King doesn’t have time for our business right now. He’s almost gone crazy looking for your sister. Soon he’ll start killing in the Royal Court. By that time, he won’t have time to watch you.”
“Right, but who has caught my sister?”
“You want to save her, too?”
Shangguan Fei immediately shook his head, “When I am invincible … No no, until I’m second only to Old Man Mu.”
“Hmm, now you’re talking. Well, tell me the Three-in-One Power you’ve learned.”
“Uhh … Won’t you teach me more skills of the Five Hole Punch first?”
“I can’t teach you now. Let’s wait till tonight.”
“Why do we have to wait until nightfall?” Shangguan Fei was on guard at once. He had never liked the dark night.
“If you want to practice my fist technique, you have to kill. The more the better. You’ve killed three today but that was not enough. You have to kill at least ten people a day. Since we two are not invincible at the moment, we can only sneak out at night to kill. Since the Royal Court is now packed with second or third-level kung fu practitioners, it’ll save us a lot time spent target-hunting.”
Old Man Mu said all that in a flat tone as if killing ten people was as simple as hitting ten sandbags, but Shangguan Fei couldn’t bear it any longer. If not for the cheers of the audience, he would have collapsed at the end of the contest. “I have to practice and master the fist technique before …”
“Idiot!” Old Man Mu snapped, “Killing people is not only for practicing your fist technique, but also for cultivating your heart. If you don’t uproot your fears from the bottom of your heart, you won’t beat anyone even if you practice for a lifetime.”
Shangguan Fei was already suffused with fear. He had heard his sister talking about the way the Great Desolate Sect and Waning Moon Hall trained their disciples. “Old Man Mu, what you said … Did you learn it from Han Wuxian?”
Old Man Mu paused a bit, scratching his head. “It seems so. Never mind where I learned it from, anyway. The more you are afraid of something, the more you have to touch it to get over it. You are afraid of blood, so I have to have you drink blood every day.”
Shangguan Fei finally vomited. “I … I’m going to look for the Dragon King.”
Gu Shenwei was so busy that Shangguan Fei couldn’t find him in a short time.
Of the three hidden places left by Xu Xiaoyi in the Royal Court, the first one had been destroyed. Lotus had successfully fled and moved to another place; the Second Consort had actually underestimated Lotus by thinking that she was in danger.
Gu Shenwei didn’t like acting during the day time, but today was an exception. He led a group of guards and went openly to the slums.
Indeed, the remaining two strongholds were destroyed, and none of Xu Xiaoyi’s men were spared.
But Lotus did not get caught. She had left a mark, indicating that she had safely transferred Shangguan Shaomin to another place with Han Xuan.
He was seldom disappointed by Lotus, and he would never forget the only time she had betrayed him.
Gu Shenwei rushed back to the camp of the Dragon Army and happened to meet with the officials of the Norland who had come to ask for Dao Nian. “It’s a misunderstanding, as Taoist Dao Nian has been hired as a master of the Royal Court. The Dragon King may not know …”
This was a standard official negotiation, which Gu Shenwei didn’t join and left everything to the counselor Fang Wenshi. After a lengthy talk where both sides set aside their responsibilities, Dao Nian was set free.
The elder of the Jade Pure Sect looked solemn. No one noticed his broken fingers in the sleeve and no one could understand the fear in his heart. The price of freedom was very high. He had swallowed five pills. Only when he successfully arranged a meeting between the Dragon King and the Khan could he receive the antidote.
The Royal Court was like a strong castle which Gu Shenwei had observed it for long enough on the periphery. This time he wanted to move straight to the core.
