Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Old Man Mu was dumbfounded after listening to Shangguan Fei recite the first chapter of the Daoless Scroll.
“Disperse the internal energy? I have to disperse my internal energy before practicing such a piece of crap? What does it think it is? So domineering.”
“It has been this way… the whole time.” Shangguan Fei didn’t understand why Old Man Mu was surprised. “Golden Roc killers are forbidden from practicing the internal energy of other sects from the very beginning.”
“I know that,” Old Man Mu said rather impatiently. He paced back and forth while scratching his head, thinking about the new problem ahead of him. “I thought it was a trick you Golden Roc Castle used to scare killers. I didn’t expect it to actually be true.”
“Uh, that’s why the Dragon King has to combine the three powers into one.”
Old Man Mu raised his head and stared at Shangguan Fei with ferocious eyes. “Do you think that I’m as stupid as you?”
“No, no.” Shangguan Fei shook his head in a hurry, thinking that it really was rare that Wild Horse could endure this for several years. He didn’t know how long he could bear this for.
“The Daoless Divine Power and the Sumeru Mustard Divine Power, one yin and the other yang, one Taoist and the other Buddhist, have completely opposite properties, so it’s normal that they are incompatible. Usually, one doesn’t have to disperse their internal energy before practicing a different one because the stronger internal energy can always suppress the weaker one and convert it into itself.”
“There’s no other way,” muttered Shangguan Fei, worried that Old Man Mu would lose interest and ‘drive him out of the sect’ again.
“Motherfucker, I’m such an idiot. I don’t have much internal energy left anyways, so it’s better to disperse it. What am I waiting for? Haha, the Daoless Divine Power is tailor-made for my current situation.”
“Yeah.” Shangguan Fei clapped his hands and echoed.
Old Man Mu frowned again. “Am I becoming stupid by being next to you for too long?”
“No no, you’re just stupid for the moment … Uh, you’re not stupid at all. It’s just that you didn’t think of it at the moment. And I’m also not stupid. I fooled the Dragon King and my sister once.”
“Seriously?”
Shangguan Fei proudly told how he had killed his cousin Shangguan Yushi. “No one thought that it was me who did it. You can’t even imagine how surprised they were.”
It was the pinnacle of Shangguan Fei’s life, and even the reminiscent memories still tasted good.
Old Man Mu nodded approvingly, and said, “I said you were talented but you were always dumbfounded when people took you seriously.”
Downhearted, Shangguan Fei sighed.
“It’s getting late. Come on, let’s go kill somebody.”
“Ahh.” Shangguan Fei’s voice trembled. He still needed to kill more than five people to meet the quota of killing ten people a day.
Fighting at will was not allowed in the noble district and most of the people in the craftsman area were also under protection. So Old Man Mu chose the slums like when the Dragon King was training Chu Nanping.
“It’ll really be a good time. It’s packed with fools from the Central Plains and idiots of the Western Regions here. Even if we kill them at will, nobody will care.” Looking at the mass of tents in the night, Old Man Mu suddenly sighed with emotion. “Back then, this was my city. I could go wherever I wanted, beat or kill whoever I wanted. Do you know that feeling?”
Shangguan Fei shook his head in a daze. Even during his most comfortable days at the castle, he was constrained by his father and mother, and even by his little sister and cousin.
“That was like … that was like … being a god. All the obstacles in the world are nothing to you; you can wander around and destroy at will. You were even more free than the Khan. He has to figure out how to increase the number of his soldiers but I only cared about ‘reducing’ it. You know, when I was young, I even slept with his women. It’s just that he didn’t know, haha.” After the laughter came a long sigh. “Alas, things flow away day and night, and now it’s gone forever.”
Shangguan Fei felt that Old Man Mu was bragging. As far as he knew, this devil dared not enter the territory of Golden Roc Castle, and also dared not speak out of the Khan’s women he had supposedly slept with. Obviously, he was still far away from doing whatever he wanted.
But he knew what the right reaction would be. Surprise, delight, envy, and sympathy. And as long as he showed these expressions, he could please Old Man Mu without saying anything.
Old Man Mu was indeed very satisfied. He patted Shangguan Fei’s waist and said, “You’re my future hope, so do it now.”
“Now? Here?” Shangguan Fei was taken aback.
They were standing at a crossroad, surrounded by simple taverns that were still open at the moment. Customers went in and out, most of whom were sabermen speaking the languages of the Central Plains and the Western Regions.
“Shouldn’t we look for a place with fewer people?” Killing blatantly like this was still a bit beyond Shangguan Fei’s reach.
“I said you were stupid and you’re really stupid. With more people here, fighting and killing will cause less attention. See, there are people quarreling over there. They’re even drawing their saber and no one gives a shit about it.”
In the distance, there were indeed two big men standing in the lights who had drawn their sabers at each other, but all they did was shout and beside them stood a few relatives or friends who were cheering loudly. It seemed that none of them would make a move past arguing even by tomorrow morning. The crowd of passers-by all turned a blind eye to it as if it were a botched puppet show not worth watching.
“Who should I kill?” Shangguan Fei nervously asked.
“Kill whoever you want. Give them a punch if you don’t like them. If you really can’t do it, just go forward with your eyes closed and punch whoever you bump into.”
Shangguan Fei didn’t have the audacity to kill as he pleased. He looked around to search for the right prey. The first thing he did was to rule out those tall and strong men who had a fierce look. After taking a glance at Old Man Mu, he then ignored all the men who were little but appeared confident. Even so, there were still a lot of choices left.
“This one will do.” Shangguan Fei said in a low voice.
It was a teenage boy who was dirty, thin, and tired like a beggar. Only the saber hanging by his waist indicated that he was also a saberman.
“You really know how to pick them. Hurry up, a bit longer and he will probably fall to the ground and die himself.”
“I’m not twenty years old either.” Shangguan Fei argued in a low voice while producing a black cloth to cover his face skillfully.
“What are you doing?” Old Man Mu looked up in amazement.
“I can’t be recognized. I’ve attended the warrior contest and I’m a little … famous.”
Old Man Mu sniffed disdainfully before suddenly crying out loudly like a bully pressing someone to pay off a debt. “Shangguan Fei! Shangguan Fei!”
Shangguan Fei was startled and quickly bent down to cover Old Man Mu’s mouth before nervously looking around. Fortunately, his name didn’t cause a stir. The customers who came out of the tavern directly went for their next destination — another tavern without caring about the cries at all.
Shangguan Fei heaved a sigh in relief and finally realized that Old Man Mu was struggling in his own hands. Seeing that his palm was not only covering Old Man Mu’s mouth but also his nose, Shangguan Fei anxiously let go and apologized.
Red-faced, Old Man Mu panted. Almost half of his power had been burned off at the Land of Fragrance, and the other half was destroyed by the torture of the five elders of the Jade Pure Sect. He was so weak now that he couldn’t even push Shangguan Fei’s hand away. “Burning the bridge before even crossing it. You little bastard really has balls.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
“Cut the crap and get on with it. At this rate speed, it’ll take a night to kill seven people.”
“Yes, yes. How come the people here don’t know me? Didn’t they watch the kung fu competition these two days?”
“The warrior contest is a game of the lords. The audiences are all herdsmen of the Norland. These people are foreign saberman. They can only take part in the ordinary kung fu competition, so who cares about you?”
Shangguan Fei was both pleased and disappointed. He gritted his teeth and said, “Good, I won’t cover my face then. I’ll do it now.”
The beggar-like teenage saberman had long since disappeared. Shangguan Fei had to look for another target.
Old Man Mu was too impatient to wait any longer. He looked around and shoved Shangguan Fei’s butt.
Being touched at a sensitive part, Shangguan Fei seemed to have accidentally sat on a brazier. He leaped out before Old Man Mu could exert more strength.
Shangguan Fei bumped into three strong men walking side by side, who were the targets Old Man Mu had chosen for him.
The man with a full beard grabbed Shangguan Fei’s shoulder and asked, heavily stressing each syllable, “What do you want?”
“He wants to fool around with you,” the red-faced man who wasn’t hit bantered back.
“Be careful that he doesn’t steal from you,” said the other black-faced man.
“Sorry, I slipped.” Shangguan Fei hastened to apologize, his legs turning into jelly, not to mention punching him.
“Do you know who I am?” The full-bearded man’s anger didn’t abate, as he grabbed Shangguan Fei with more strength and his voice growing fiercer.
Shangguan Fei shook his head, and the confidence he had built in the warrior contest over the past two days completely vanished.
“Kowtow in apology!” The black-faced man cried out, his breath carrying with it a strong smell of alcohol.
“Let him crawl between your legs.” The red-faced man emanated the same smell of wine, saying, “This pretty boy looks quite delicate. Big brother, you might as well take him as your concubine, haha.”
The man with a full beard loosened his hands, “You’re lucky I’m in a good mood today. Kowtow ten times and pay a hundred taels of silver, and I’ll let you off.”
Shangguan Fei struggled to swallow the bitter saliva in his mouth and turned to look at Old Man Mu.
Old Man Mu looked even fiercer than those three big men. He kept gesturing that he should strike at once.
“I…” Shangguan Fei’s mind was completely blank. Without crowds of servants and killers following behind, he felt powerless and much less confident. So even he himself felt surprised when he blurted out the following words, “I’m also in a very good mood today. Kowtow a hundred times to me, slap yourself a hundred times, and pay a thousand taels of silver, and then I’ll let you off.”
Looking at the pretty boy who said the harsh words like a schoolboy reciting a passage, the three burly men were surprised at first, then laughed out loud, and finally reached to draw their sabers.
Shangguan Fei hit the bearded man with a punch. As the huge body flew out, part of the fear in his heart disappeared. It was too easy, surprisingly easy. The big man was not even as powerful as a second-rated fighter in the kung fu competition field.
The man with a full beard fell to the ground with a large bloody hole between his chest and abdomen. His body was almost torn into two sections.
“It’s not right. You used too much yang energy and the yin energy is not enough. Do it again.” Old Man Mu was not satisfied.
The red-faced and black-faced men, however, held a completely different view. The two stared with their mouth agape and the sabers in their hands fell to the ground.
“I don’t know him very well. I just met him this morning.” The red-faced man retreated one step.
“Young hero, I have three kids…” The black-faced man took two steps back.
Old Man Mu claimed that no one cared about fighting and killing here which was obviously not the case. Not long after, they were surrounded by a large group of people. Almost every tavern had a saberman running out, who stared at the corpse on the ground with unreadable expressions.
Shangguan Fei also retreated, thinking that this was bad. The few couldn’t fight the many, not to mention that he was alone and there were over forty people surrounding them.
“People of the Western Regions?” Asked a voice in the crowd.
Shangguan Fei nodded, trying to say something but his throat seemed to be bunged up.
“Your kung fu is good, so let’s go kill together,” said another voice.
“Ah?” Shangguan Fei was completely confused.
“The Central Plains are allies with the Western Regions. The more people we kill, the more rewards we’ll get.”
Hesitating, Shangguan Fei didn’t say a word, but Old Man Mu suddenly jumped up and shouted, “Let’s do it!”
