Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Like the walking dead, Shangguan Fei sat down beside the cheerful Old Man Mu and listened to the strangers excitedly introducing the situation.
“I’ve got some inside information and it’s absolutely accurate. The Khan is already dead. The one living in the palace is just a zombie controlled by a group of masters, giving off the image that he’s still alive. He can occasionally make some gestures and speak through another man’s mouth.”
“The kings and counselors are all angry, but they are bound by oath to not use weapons in the palace, so they thought of us.”
“Tonight, at the third night watch periods, you can rush into the palace and kill anyone you like. Remember to cut off the nose, as the rewards from the kings are a thousand taels of silver for one nose.”
“You have to cut off the head if it’s a master. That’s worth a hundred thousand taels. Did you hear me? A hundred thousand taels.”
“Take whatever women and treasures you want, as long as you can carry them away.”
“I’m confused. Do I have to kill the women or take them away?”
“Silly boy, you take the ones you like and kill the ones you don’t.”
…
The crowd was in a state of frenzied chaos. They had a few more drinks in a nearby tavern. No one was willing to pay, and they even smashed all the utensils. Many people came to Shangguan Fei and made a toast to him, intending to form a group with him later. “You can punch anywhere except for the nose. How about we do it like this? You focus on killing and I’ll help cut the nose off. At the end of the day, let’s split it as seventy-thirty. You seventy, and me thirty.”
Shangguan Fei chuckled to pretend that he was interested. As soon as he was free he turned to Old Man Mu and said, “Do you believe them? Something’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong with it?” A drunk saberman rushed to explain before Old Man Mu could open his mouth. “Just think about it, how long has it been since you’ve seen the Khan? Every year the Khan watches several important competitions of the Tournament of the Royal Court, but this year, he didn’t watch any, and only went around once in the carriage. Besides, there’s about to be a war with the Central Plains but the Khan is still behaving as if everything is all right and didn’t even organize a proper parade …”
The drunkard listed many reasons and when he got to the one he thought the most credible. He lowered his voice and softly spoke, “I heard from a friend… ” He stressed the word ‘friend’ but lowered his voice even more, creating a sense of mystery, and even the smell of alcohol in his mouth weakened as if his ‘friend’ was an immortal. “The ten kings have made an agreement to kill the masters first before selecting a new Khan. It’s not good for them to do it personally, so they can only hire outsiders like us.”
Shangguan Fei could not help curling his lips, thinking that he knew more than these charlatans. The Dragon King was working so hard every day to dig up information that if he hadn’t heard of anything about this information, it had to be false.
Old Man Mu did not care. He pushed the drunkard under the table, and asked “What’s there to be afraid of? Let’s just follow behind so that we can run away even if it’s a trap. You just focus on killing and you’d better not stop until you feel excited about it. I said that it might take you ten days or more, but now it seems that you can thoroughly recast yourself tonight.”
“The people of the palace don’t even know kung fu. Will it be useful to kill them?” Shangguan Fei was still not sure and tried to look for excuses to avoid participating in the riot.
Old Man Mu stared blankly at Shangguan Fei as if he had said something particularly foolish before he sincerely asked, “Are you and the good girl really children of the Unique King? Could it be a mistake? Look at you two, one good-hearted and the other cowardly. What temperament of the Shangguan family do you have? Your mother…”
This was Shangguan Fei’s most taboo topic, so he immediately stopped Old Man Mu. “My mother is perfectly fine. My sister and I look more like people of the Meng family, but if you look carefully, our eyes, nose, cheekbones, and especially the earlobes, are just like those of the King Lord.”
“You have to be ruthless if you are the Unique King’s son.” Old Man Mu looked around and after pressing down the drunkard who had barely emerged from under the table, whispered, “Idiot, who said we were going to kill the eunuchs and maids in the palace? Once you’ve mastered the peerless martial arts skills, all the silver in the world will be yours. I meant killing these people.”
“Kill them?” Shangguan Fei looked around in terror for fear of being heard.
“Of course, do you think I’m stupid? Even if it’s not a trap tonight, it’s a capital crime to kill anyone in the palace. They want to take noses to get a reward, but I’m afraid they are going to get cut, heh heh. The sabermen of the Central Plains and the Western Regions are so easily fooled. Since the Royal Court is going to be in chaos, it’s also a good chance for you to kill. Aren’t you afraid of people seeking revenge? In this case, who will know that you did it?”
As soon as Old Man Mu finished talking, someone nearby asked, “You’re Shangguan Fei? And you’re Old Man Mu?”
Old Man Mu kept his composure and looked askance at the one who asked him, forgetting that he actually had little power left and was probably not the other side’s match. Shangguan Fei almost jumped out of his chair, saying, “It’s me … No, who are you?”
It was that red-faced man who, from the look of him, had no intention of avenging the man with a full beard. He sat beside Shangguan Fei with a smile on his face. “I was wondering who could have such commanding appearances and excellent martial arts skills, and it turned out that you two are the Dragon King’s right-hand men, the famous Senior Mu and young hero Shangguan.”
Shangguan Fei couldn’t help but chuckle. It was so awkward to hear someone say ‘young hero’ before his surname.
Old Man Mu was very discontent with the title ‘senior,’ so he frowned and said, “Come off your high horse if you want to say something. Otherwise fart around somewhere else.”
More than a decade ago, Old Man Mu had been a well-known devil in the Norland. Shangguan Fei had come from the Western Regions and even though he had won the warrior contests two days in a row, the two were not currently famous in the grassland. So the sabermen from the Central Plains actually knew nothing about them. The red-faced man had tried to kiss their asses but kissed the wrong ass.
Although Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei were not famous, the Dragon King had become well-known with the efforts of several kings. Even people from the Central Plains knew about this ambitious lord of the Western Regions who used to be a killer by now.
The red-faced man didn’t care about being scolded and smilingly continued, saying, “It’s really like the flood dashing against the Temple of the Dragon King … Sorry, sorry, I was wrong again… Actually, we are family 1 .”
Old Man Mu glanced at him twice and said, “Are you my long-lost son? We don’t look alike.”
The man’s smile became more and more flattering. “Senior Mu is so funny. I mean, we are working for the same lord,” said the red-faced man, clenching and shaking his fist as he spoke.
“What, you wanna fight? Come on.” Old Man Mu rolled up his sleeves and pointed to Shangguan Fei, “You go.”
The red-faced man hurriedly waved his hand. He didn’t want to end up with his corpse in a mess. “Ten, that’s ten. I was invited by King Rizhu, the tenth lord, and the Dragon King is a friend of King Rizhu’s, so aren’t we a family?”
Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei looked at each other in bewilderment. The Dragon King had changed allies so fast, the two didn’t have the feeling of ‘family’ yet.
“You’re both here on a mission tonight, aren’t you? Heh heh, to tell you the truth, I’m more confident after seeing your kung fu.” The red-faced man reverently stared at Shangguan Fei and suddenly dropped his voice low as he said, “I hear that the Dragon King will be part of the main force tonight, is that true?”
Seeing that neither of them spoke, the red-faced man nodded tacitly and withdrew, satisfied.
“What’s the Dragon King doing tonight?” Old Man Mu asked.
“I don’t know. He always appears and disappears mysteriously.”
“That is really strange. Why would King Rizhu want to spread news that the Dragon King is the main force? Isn’t it obvious that he’s framing the Dragon King?”
“Let’s go back the camp for now to see if the Dragon King is there.”
“Hold on, I have a question for you. Are you going to stay loyal to the Dragon King the whole time?”
“Of course.” Shangguan Fei answered without hesitation, but his heart beat wildly a few times.
“Hmm, well done. That’s a good lie.”
“I didn’t lie. The Dragon King keeps me safe so I owe him my allegiance,” Shangguan Fei said more naturally.
“Right. He protects you, and you serve him. What if he can’t protect you?”
“What do you mean?”
“We have to be part of tonight’s operation. If this really has something to do with the Dragon King, we can act accordingly by either making a big contribution in front of him or … heh heh … We have to find out what will happen to the Dragon King before the others do, right?”
Shangguan Fei quickly looked around and said excitedly in a low voice, “Actually, that’s also what I was thinking of doing.”
“Good.” Old Man Mu’s voice suddenly became stern as he said, “I’ve finally tricked you into revealing your true thoughts.”
Shangguan Fei was shocked and nearly fell off his stool. “You …”
“I’m just kidding. I’m helping you grow some balls.” Old Man Mu stood up and then said, “Come on, let’s go.”
Shangguan Fei felt that he had already lost his nerves. Reluctantly, he stood up and saw the people in the tavern calling for their friends and walking out of the tent confidently. As he did so, the red-faced man cupped his fists to show respect to him as if they had known each other for a long time.
The drunkard stuck his head out from under the table and indistinctly said, “Dragon King … Act accordingly … Take me with you.”
Old Man Mu gave Shangguan Fei a signal with a wink.
Shangguan Fei didn’t feel reluctant because even he himself felt the urge to silence that man.
Shangguan Fei punched out without a sound. He was becoming more and more skillful at controlling the yin and yang energy and the Five Hole Punch. The drunkard was unharmed on the surface and didn’t even shed a drop of blood.
When counting the competition in the day, Shangguan Fei had killed five people before midnight. He felt very strange. He had also personally killed people in the castle in the past but the more he killed the more timid he became. Why was it the opposite effect after he started following Old Man Mu?
‘It’s freedom,’ he thought. He had been touched by the description of freedom given by Old Man Mu. Back in the castle, killing was a breadwinner’s craft. One couldn’t have any passion when learning it and would never reach a higher level after mastering it.
More and more people joined the mob. No one knew who was leading the way, and the crowd walked around the craftsman area and the noble district on the east and west side and went straight to the northern forbidden zone. There were free horses provided on the roadside that everyone could take at will.
The sound of the horses’ hooves and the noise from the hordes of people were much louder than the last riot in the slums, but everything went smoothly and no cavalry of the Norland came out to stop them.
Initially, most of the sabermen thought the same as Old Man Mu, that they should walk in the back so they could immediately run away when something unexpected happened. But the peaceful situation brought them great confidence. It seemed that the rumors were more and more likely to be true, and the kings of the Norland really controlled most of the cavalry, and that the only thing they were unwilling to do was to rush the palace.
The crowd began to pick up speed as if there was a treasure ahead that could be claimed on a first-come-first-served basis.
Old Man Mu wasn’t in a hurry. He and Shangguan Fei dismounted as soon as they reached the suburbs and hid in the grass, patiently waiting to choose the next target from the sabermen galloping by.
“This group is too big, this one looks too weak, this … Well, he’s already gone. These two people look okay, kill!”
Shangguan Fei leaped out and punched at the coming rider while silently muttering ‘not afraid.’
The rider counterattacked with a sword with incredible speed, and Shangguan Fei’s newly established confidence crumbled at the same time. He threw himself on the ground and rolled over into the grass.
“Stop, stop, he’s one of us.” Old Man Mu jumped out, and exclaimed, “Isn’t this Little Chu? Long time no see, what are you doing here?”
“I’m looking for the Dragon King.” Chu Nanping put his sword away.
Shangguan Fei scrambled out of the grass, “Fortunately, I recognized you in time. We almost killed each other.”
Old Man Mu looked at the person behind Chu Nanping, “Who is this little girl? Is it my eyes or do her pupils look really strange? Little Chu, are you haunted by a ghost?”
As the little girl’s green eyes looked over at him, Old Man Mu felt a fierce killing aura. His heart shivering, he immediately knew that this was a disciple of the Waning Moon Hall.
