Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
This was the first wooden house that Gu Shenwei had ever seen in the Norland. Although it was only pieced together by a few thin planks, it still carried with it a touch of luxury.
The inside was built exactly to the specification of a pill refining room’s layout. As soon as Gu Shenwei entered, he could smell the fragrant aroma mixing with the strong medicinal smell, the combination creating an almost suffocatingly sticky air.
“This was specially built by the Khan for the Jade Pure Sect,” Dao Nian boasted flatly. “We can only bring the Dragon King here for now. I’ll go to the Khan first and see if he would like to meet you.”
Gu Shenwei nodded. He felt very uncomfortable with a fake long beard sticking to his chin. He was now the long-bearded Dao Lun, not the Dragon King.
The mobile palace of the Khan occupied the northernmost part of the Royal Court, which meant it was almost half of the city if the transitional zone in the middle was considered. So it was not easy to bring an outsider in. Otherwise, the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect would have hidden Old Man Mu inside there.
Amongst the five Taoists, Dao Nian and Dao Lun were the most similar in stature to the Dragon King. The former was responsible for dealing with the Khan, so the responsibility of exchanging identities and acting as a hostage fell to Dao Lun.
As he cut off the long beard he had developed over the years, Dao Lun lamented, “Twenty-five years, twenty-five full years.”
Dao Lun didn’t need to heavily disguise himself. When accompanied by Red Bat, the female officer of the Land of Fragrance, the old ‘Dragon King’, who was dressed in night clothes, directly returned to the camp of the Dragon Army. Fang Wenshi then stayed with him.
If anyone had been watching, they would have only observed a very quiet night.
On the other hand, it was a bit troublesome for Gu Shenwei. Fortunately, the beard was the most eye-catching trademark of Dao Lun and Gu Shenwei immediately changed after gluing it on.
The process of entering the Khan’s camp was easier than he expected. Although he had passed seven or eight checkpoints and had to follow a new guide after each one, no one doubted his identity. Dao Nian’s waist token and long beard were the best permits possible.
The rules became stricter after they entered the pill refining room. No one was allowed to leave at will except for Dao Nian.
“The Khan has no fixed abode. I must go first to the steward and ask if the Khan wants to see me tonight.”
Dao Xiu interjected, “Senior brother’s requests are rarely rejected. The Khan is very respectful to senior brother.”
“The Dragon King is really lucky; the Khan has just finished his close-door cultivation and is able to see you.”
Dao Xiu once again interrupted, “The Khan listened to senior brother’s advice and has practiced forty-nine days of …”
“Shut up!” Dao Nian scolded and stopped his junior brother from saying the name of the practice manual.
Dao Xiu walked to the side embarrassed, his pale face flushing red.
Dao Nian then left, alone, leaving behind his three junior brothers who sat upright on the futon as if they were meditating. Their eyes, however, remained opened by a slit and they kept peeping at the Dragon King who was standing at the door.
Gu Shenwei stood with his back towards the three. What made him feel uncomfortable was not only the long beard but also his empty hands. He had handed over his saber, sword, and dagger to Red Bat. He was now unarmed, his meridians hadn’t recovered yet, and he was solely relying on the fear of the Jade Pure Sect’s elders to keep himself safe.
It was a very risky move but he didn’t think it was very dangerous.
The Second Consort had claimed the Khan’s real goal was to invite Lotus from the Waning Moon Hall, but Gu Shenwei believed that it wasn’t that simple. It was not that he was confident in the title of ‘Dragon King’ but that the unusual behavior of the lords had given him a hunch that the Khan had no intention of killing him.
It was almost bright outside now but there was still no news from Dao Nian. Even his junior brothers were growing impatient. The chill in their bodies broke out from time to time, and they desperately wanted the Dragon King to tell them how to remove it.
“Is the Khan practicing the … and has no time to meet senior brother?” Dao Xiu couldn’t sit still any longer and also went to the door to listen.
“Knowing the masculine and keeping to the feminine,” Gu Shenwei softly said.
Dao Xiu was startled, his face turning paler. “How do you know?”
Those two Taoist priests behind him also opened their eyes and looked surprised. “Did Old Man Mu tell you that?”
Gu Shenwei didn’t respond. On the way to the Royal Court, he had talked with Old Man Mu in detail. Old Man Mu didn’t know much about the internal energy manuals of the Jade Pure Sect, but he had practiced two of them and highly recommended them to the Dragon King, “Amber Power, although it’s not very helpful in improving internal energy, is a life-saving unique skill. The reason I could overcome danger so many times is all due to it. Alas, it’s been shattered by the fire of the Dragon King. I don’t know when I’ll be able to master it again.”
Gu Shenwei couldn’t practice it because the Amber Power conflicted with the Daoless Divine Power.
“There’s another internal energy manual with a long name. It’s called the ‘Secret Arts of Returning to Simplicity Through Ten Stages of Knowing the Masculine and Keeping to the Feminine’. Well, you know, the old Taoists especially like to make up words in the name. We can call it ‘knowing the masculine and keeping to the feminine’ or simply ‘Arts of the Masculine and Feminine’. Well, it has amazing effects after you practice it such as extending your life and staying young. The Dragon King is so young and has so many women around. Haha, this is the perfect manual for you.”
The core of the set of manual was plucking yin to nourish yang, which was similar to the ‘sex manual’ but more complex and tedious. It was divided into ten levels or the so-called ‘ten stages’, or Bhumi. ‘Returning to simplicity’ meant returning to one’s original nature. The mystique of the nine heavens was not worth telling to outsiders, so it was called ‘secret arts’.
“Honestly, just forget it if you want to let off steam and have fun. I didn’t want to suffer any more, so I quit after reaching the fifth level. But the Dragon King can practice it. You have more control than I do. And the key is that a lot of women are willing to offer themselves to you, which means the largest obstacle isn’t an obstacle for you at all.”
After listening to the introduction from Old Man Mu, Gu Shenwei flatly refused to practice this kind of kung fu, not for fear of losing sensual pleasure, but for his lack of a strong desire for immortality and women.
Ever since he had heard that the Khan was pursuing immortality, he immediately thought of the Arts of the Masculine and Feminine of the Jade Pure Sect.
“Do not listen to Old Man Mu’s nonsense.” Dao Xiu anxiously made an excuse.
“Hmm, the Jade Pure Sect is an orthodox Taoist sect.”
“The universe is a furnace stoked by Nature, with yin and yang as fuel, and the myriad beings as metal. We didn’t kill or harm anyone, they were all voluntary…” Dao Xiu wanted to explain more.
“Junior brother, no more talking.” Dao Huo’s tone was as harsh as that of Dao Nian. “It’s enough as long as we are clear about it. The Dragon King won’t understand no matter what you say.”
The conversation ended at the moment, and Dao Xiu retreated somewhat resignedly.
Still standing in the doorway, Gu Shenwei heard a faint sound of steps. Dao Nian coughed outside and said, “I’m back.”
His words seemed superfluous because everyone in the tent could hear him. Gu Shenwei stepped aside and quietly guided his internal Qi. He had spent lots of time repairing his broken meridians. Although he had not yet fully succeeded and his yin and yang energy was still weak, it was enough for him to launch a blow.
That was, if the blow was necessary.
Dao Nian entered, his face paler than it had been when he left.
Gu Shenwei looked at the two hunchbacks behind him.
“The Dragon King has finally come.”
They were the disciples of the Essence Pavilion whom Gu Shenwei had seen in King Shengri’s place. Perhaps they sensed the enmity of the Dragon King, so the other hunchback immediately said, “Please follow me to see the Khan.”
Dao Nian blocked the doorway and did not make way immediately. “I want to ask first, what’s the Dragon King’s purpose of seeing the Khan?”
It seemed a bit late to ask for his intention at this point. Gu Shenwei tore off the fake beard, and declared, “To protect his safety and seek an alliance for the Dragon Army.”
Gu Shenwei had only said part of his intentions but Dao Nian was eager to accept the whole statement and said, “Good. Now is a good opportunity to prove the Dragon King’s intentions.”
Dao Nian stepped aside from the doorway and said to his three junior brothers, “Get ready. Someone is going to assassinate the Khan. We must protect him even if we have to fight to the death.”
“Who’s so daring?” Dao Xiu bounced up and looked suspiciously at the Dragon King.
“A large bunch of killers sent by the Central Plains,” one hunchback said.
“They pretended to attend the Tournament of the Royal Court but actually have ulterior motives,” the other hunchback added.
All the Taoist priests were taken aback except for Dao Nian. They had all come from the Central Plains, and if they were suspected, they would probably die here. No wonder their senior brother had to say something like ‘fight to the death to protect the Khan’.
Gu Shenwei was also a bit surprised. As far as he knew, most of the kung fu experts of the Central Plains had joined the kings. If Fang Wenshi was correct in his analysis and King Kuari was a mole of the Central Plains, then the assassination would be his first preemptive action, which was taking place much earlier than most people, including him, were expecting.
As soon as it was dawn, those two disciples of the Essence Pavilion led them in to protect the Khan.
Dao Nian walked behind and whispered to the Dragon King, “There may be a battle of life and death later. The chill in our body …”
“It won’t be a problem. Just do whatever is necessary.”
The four Taoists of the Jade Pure Sect were a bit disappointed but didn’t ask again.
Gu Shenwei felt that something wasn’t right before they had gone far. First, there was no tension in the camp. The guards were patrolling and the early female slaves came and left as usual. Secondly, they were moving away from the center of the camp and walking towards the forbidden zone in the northern area.
He was not the only one who had noticed the anomaly. Dao Xiu asked in a low voice, “Where are we going? The Khan doesn’t seem to live here.”
Dao Nian didn’t utter a sound. One of the hunchbacks walking in the front coldly said, “You don’t have to be by the Khan’s side to protect him.” Another hunchback added, “You have to prove that you’re not working with the assassins first.”
Now everyone understood that the Khan didn’t trust either the Jade Pure Sect and the Dragon King, and they could only guard the perimeter of the Khan’s camp.
The reality was much worse than they had thought.
The northern forbidden zone used to be a vacant lot but now there were thousands of men forming over a dozen or so big circles. All the soldiers were aiming at the inner circle with their arrows set against the strings, ready to shoot.
Lots of noise came from inside as if many people were quarreling.
King Shengri was the commander of the operation. Seeing the Dragon King come, he smiled in greeting. “Welcome. I thought the Dragon King was inside the trap. I’m so glad to see that you’re on the outside. I heard that the Dragon King has the sharpest saber in the Western Regions. I wonder how many people you can kill today?”
“Let’s see how many I need to kill.”
“Haha, there are many needs today.”
The soldiers made way for a narrow passage. Gu Shenwei and the four Taoist priests of the Jade Pure Sect looked inside. Nearly a thousand people were trapped in the core. It looked like all of them were kung fu practitioners. Over a dozen vacant lots were cleared in the gap between the inner and outer circles, and bloody kung fu competitions were going on.
There was no victory or defeat, only life and death.
“Go inside and fight at will,” King Shengri said happily. “The Khan has given the order. Today the people who kill the most will be rewarded, and will be summoned.”
A voice rang out, which was louder than anyone else. “Hey, that’s not fair. We’ve won. Why don’t you let us go?”
Old Man Mu was actually trapped inside. Gu Shenwei followed the voice and looked. The first person he saw was Shangguan Fei who was covered with blood and trembling. Behind him were surprisingly Chu Nanping who had disappeared for several days, Red Bat, the female officer of the Land of Fragrance, Dao Lun, whose beard was cut off, and more than a dozen soldiers of the Dragon Army.
