Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
As he stared at the Dragon King’s back, King Shengri was both amazed and shocked to the point that he could not speak for a long while, as if the Dragon King’s were a lame joke and he would turn around at any moment.
Of the thirty-seven kung fu experts standing outside the siege, King Shengri thought that the Dragon King was the least likely to subvert his orders.
The reason was simple. It was just a simple personal choice for other people, but the Dragon King was responsible for the future of the tens of thousands soldiers of the Dragon Army and therefore, it was normal for him to abandon a dozen or so underlings.
King Shengri had once been held hostage by the Dragon King, so he was on the lookout for a surprise attack and had placed several real kung fu masters from the Norland among the common cavalry. He didn’t expect that the trap he had set beforehand would turn out to be useless.
The four elders of the Jade Pure Sect found the Dragon King’s behavior particularly unacceptable. But they didn’t want to appear morally inferior, and especially didn’t want to completely lose all chances of solving the hidden danger within their bodies. “The Dragon King is playing tricks,” said Dao Nian with great certainty to King Shengri.
Even the people on the other side did not believe it. Most of the Central Plains’ people didn’t even know the Dragon King. When they saw a pale-faced man coming towards them, they thought that he was a servant of King Shengri, who was coming over to urge everyone to continue fighting.
“The Dragon King is here to show his loyalty.” Old Man Mu proposed his most likely guess. If he were in the Dragon King’s position, he would have done this for sure. “Smart move. It’s better to be proactive than to be forced to fight. If you wanna be shameless, you should not hesitate.”
As soon as he finished saying these words, Old Man Mu immediately turned around and dove into the crowd. He did not want to stand in the first row and become the Dragon King’s target.
Woosh. A large fan-shaped gap appeared in front of the Dragon King. Only a dozen or so people remained motionless in their places.
Chu Nanping didn’t move, as he nodded at the Dragon King and said, “I found Tie Linglong.”
Gu Shenwei nodded back, “Good.” Then he passed by the teenager, turning a blind eye to the little girl behind him.
Tie Linglong also turned her head and sealed her lips, her hands still tucked in her sleeves.
Neither did the ten guards of the Dragon King move. They drew out their weapons and raised them high at the same time to show respect to the Dragon King. They were all swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, who never believed that their leader would abandon them in the first place.
Red Bat, who was standing in front of the guards, looked both a little excited and confused. The Dragon King just happened to stop in front of her.
“Starting with the women, huh. The Dragon King is really fierce,” Old Man Mu whispered to Shangguan Fei who was only half a pace behind him.
“The Dragon King has come for his weapons.”
Shangguan Fei’s guess was more accurate. After a moment of panic, Red Bat finally remembered that she had the Five Peaks Saber and Dragon Head Sword with her, and her purpose here was to return them to their owner. She anxiously took them out and presented the swords to him with both hands. Then she lowered her head, wanting to say something but remaining silent in the end. She was not as confident as the swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain.
Gu Shenwei hung the weapons by his waist and felt much relieved. Then he ordered, “Come with me.”
Red Bat followed closely behind with the ten guards. Chu Nanping walked in the right rear of the Dragon King, and Tie Linglong, who was hesitating a little, walked in the left rear. These were their old positions.
Shangguan Fei became anxious. “What should we do now? The Dragon King doesn’t seem to want to kill anyone.”
“Idiot, he’s going to take his men to the people of the Norland so that they can see it more clearly.”
The people of the Central Plains and the Norland were all whispering and nine out of ten people were thinking the same as Old Man Mu. But Old Man Mu himself became hesitant now. The Dragon King had always acted unexpectedly, so who knew if he had another plan this time?
The Dragon King and his party had walked a dozen paces when Old Man Mu frowned, gnashed his teeth, stamped his feet, leaped out of the crowd, and shouted, “Wait for me!”
Shangguan Fei followed Old Man Mu in every move. “And me!”
The more he watched, the more King Shengri thought that things were not quite what he had thought they were. “What the hell? Prepare to shoot.”
Hundreds of sharp arrows were aimed and drawn at the small group of people approaching them, yet the four elders of the Jade Pure Sect couldn’t help but move several steps back.
Gu Shenwei paused and said with a loud voice, “I have Immortal Peng’s secret manual and he has the manual for practicing the Emotionless Swordsmanship alone. Come and get it if you want.”
During their last meeting, it was clear that King Shengri had been manipulated by the disciples of the Essence Pavilion. And the people of the Essence Pavilion were most concerned about two things, which were the roll of paper taken away by Gu Shenwei before Immortal Peng had died and the method Chu Nanping had accidentally discovered to practice the Emotionless Swordsmanship alone. Gu Shenwei, therefore, believed that King Shengri would also be touched by them.
Once Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei decided to follow the Dragon King, they approached him much more closely than the others and heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. One of the two said, “So Dragon King had something to rely on afterall.” The other said, “Do not hand them over easily, Dragon King. You gotta blackmail them.”
Looking on from afar, King Shengri lowered his head and seemed to seek advice from the two hunchbacks of the Essence Pavilion. But when he raised his head, the words he spat out were, “Release the arrows!”
Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei were shocked and immediately wanted to run away, but they were too close to the Dragon King and were almost under his nose. Gu Shenwei took a glance at them, and the two immediately froze in place and couldn’t move a step no matter how much they wanted.
Upon seeing the flying arrows, even though the surrounded crowd knew that they were not the target, they still retreated uncontrollably and the small circle became even more crowded.
The Dragon King didn’t move, and neither did the guards behind him. Only Old Man Mu and Shangguan Fei took half a step back to stand between the Dragon King, Chu Nanping, and Tie Linglong.
It was a tentative bluffing shot. The cavalry officers had understood the king’s real intentions. More than a thousand arrows fell in a narrow area about five paces in front of the Dragon King, standing erect like grass that had suddenly sprouted.
The Norland Cavalry had shown their excellent archery. The others saw this scene and it only caused their heart to become flustered. Only Red Bat sincerely admired it. This female soldier from the Land of Fragrance had also practiced the bow and crossbow but her skills were far from being as refined as those of the people of the Norland.
One officer rode forward and shouted, “The Khan’s descendants do not accept threats. Please retreat, Dragon King. One more step, and the arrows won’t have eyes.”
Gu Shenwei was sixty or seventy percent sure that King Shengri didn’t dare to really shoot him but he didn’t want to risk it. “If you don’t take any threats, then let’s follow the rules of the Norland and have a kung fu competition. If I lose, the manuals and lives are all at your disposal. If I win, King Shengri should release me and my men.”
King Shengri consulted with his entourage and nodded. The officer in the front immediately said, “All right. Dragon King. Please move back to make room for the competition. One round per life.”
The previous competition was to kill until the last fifty people were left, but now winning one game could save one person. King Shengri had actually made a great concession. The Dragon King’s image immediately grew larger. Many kung fu practitioners greatly envied the subordinates of the Dragon King and regretted not joining the Dragon Army earlier.
Old Man Mu was not satisfied and jumped out to argue, whining, “Unfair, it’s unfair. We have over a dozen people, so should we let the Dragon King fight more than a dozen times? Let’s decide on one go, with the winner taking all!”
Without even asking King Shengri for directions, the officer simply replied, “Old Man Mu is not in the pool. He humiliated the Khan’s family and must pay the price today.”
“Hey, hey, even King Rizhu spared me. Who do you think you are to spew bullshit here?”
“I’m the brother of King Rizhu’s princess consort.” With that being said, the officer rode back to the soldiers.
Old Man Mu winked and complained in a low voice, “When will this be over? Will the princess consort’s bastard son also come to me to avenge her in a couple of days? It’s not me who killed her.” When he looked up at the Dragon King, he put on a walnut-like smile and said, “Thank you for saving me just now. I’m too ashamed to say anything now.”
“Then don’t.” Gu Shenwei beckoned for the other people to back off while he himself drew his Five Peaks Saber, ready to face the first opponent.
Old Man Mu still wanted to say something when Shangguan Fei exhorted, “Let the Dragon King focus on the competition. He’ll find a way to save your life in the end for sure.”
“What if the princess consort’s parents and brothers all come out against me?”
“It’s all under the Dragon King’s control. You just have to put your hopes on him. The Dragon King won’t give up on anyone, even the most useless man of his, right? Why are you asking for trouble …”
Shangguan Fei pushed Old Man Mu away, hoping that the Dragon King would notice his flattery.
King Shengri took a glance at the thirty or so kung fu experts of the Central Plains and said, “Armies are to be maintained for years but used on a single day. Who will be the first to fight for me?”
Those who killed their relatives or friends would eventually bear a heavy burden but competing with the Dragon King of the Western Regions wouldn’t be such a problem. So the kung fu experts all rushed forward to show their willingness to fight and almost started a brawl in front of the lord.
King Shengri was very satisfied. Although the Dragon King’s action had been unexpected, it had made the game more interesting. “You go.”
Yang Yingshu of the Qingcheng Sect strode towards the Dragon King with two short halberds.
He had once competed with Chu Nanping under the command of Tuosai, the son of King Riyao. At that time he used the false name ‘Yang San’ and wielded dual swords. Now that his identity had been revealed, there was no need to cover up anymore. Actually, the weapon that he was the most proficient in was a double halberd.
“I am Yang Yingshu from the Qingcheng Sect. Dragon King, the hatred between us will come to an end today. I won’t let the Xia brothers and senior brother Gu die in vain.”
Old Man Mu put his worries aside for the moment and began to educate Shangguan Fei on the spot, “You see, the people of the Central Plains are really good at talking. Instead of trying to save his fellow disciples that are still alive, he is trying to avenge the dead and is speaking with fervor and assurance. This is also a kind of freedom. It’s a bit low-leveled, but at least it can help reduce his self-reproach.”
Shangguan Fei nodded approvingly.
Upon hearing these words, Yang Yingshu blushed slightly but didn’t move his eyes from the Dragon King.
“Alas, he’s just one step short of success. His level drops a bit when he blushed. It’s really a pity.” Old Man Mu shook his head.
“Let me compete in the first round,” Chu Nanping requested.
Zhang Ji had once said that a king should not abase himself to attend the warrior contest and Gu Shenwei agreed with him. But today was different. It would be very important for him to come forward and save the lives of all his subordinates.
“No, this guy is easy to deal with.”
Yang Yingshu was both impatient and irritable. For one thing, he felt that it was a disgrace to openly fight for the Norland. For another thing, he was very concerned about his own life. He was, therefore, eager to finish this quickly so that he could render some outstanding services to King Shengri and perhaps even take advantage of that opportunity to rescue some of his fellow disciples of the Qingcheng Sect.
Being impetuous, greedy, and lacking any planning, he had committed all the taboos of a kung fu competition. Even so, the audiences both inside and outside were still astounded when he wasn’t able to block the Dragon King’s saber in the first exchange. He threw his halberds down, clawed at his throat, and slowly fell down.
It was from this moment on that the fame of the Dragon King would spread among the people of the Central Plains, but it would take a few more months for it to reach the Central Plains.
King Shengri’s face darkened. These so-called kung fu experts of the Central Plains boasted loudly when recommending themselves, but he didn’t expect them to be so vulnerable.
The herald admired the Dragon King very much, as could be seen when he rode forward and said, “The Dragon King can let one person go.”
Gu Shenwei turned around and looked at his fifteen subordinates.
Shangguan Fei looked excited. The Dragon King had won so fast that he didn’t even have any time to cheer for him, so he could only mutter in his heart, “Choose me please.”
“You.”
The Dragon King’s eyes fell on Tie Linglong instead.
Tie Linglong stubbornly raised her head. She wanted to say that she was not his subordinate and didn’t need him to save her but she quickly understood the meaning of the Dragon King’s eyes. Although they had not interacted for over a year and she was full of resentment towards him, she still had a tacit understanding with the Dragon King as she did before, which was one of the lessons she had learned as a bodyguard.
She had to find Lotus, and the Dragon King’s message could not be clearer: only Lotus could save all of them.
