Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
For the Norland people, obeying military orders was a part of their nature, a custom, especially for the Norland Cavalry who took even a moment of hesitation as cowardice as they carried out their orders.
As the commander-in-chief, King Shengri was astonished that his order had not been carried out. King Rizhu and the other kings also felt surprised until they noticed the flag of order in Silver Condor’s hands.
King Shengri was in a daze. He was the commander-in-chief appointed by the Khan, so why would the wing guard be holding a flag of order in his hand? The disciples of the Essence Pavilion were dead, so he couldn’t even find someone to ask for a hint now. So he cast his eyes on the staff officer.
The officer was even more surprised than he was, but his duty did not allow him to retreat. So he made up his mind to ride forward to find out what was going on.
The truth was right there, but few people dared to pour salt on King Shengri’s wound. King Rizhu didn’t care and chuckled. “The old Khan is still in the mood to have fun and always has a hidden card or two, treating us like little kids. Well, a father’s love for his son will never change. Second King, I really envy you.”
The kings all nodded, ‘envious’ of the favor their older brother had received. King Shengri, whose face was livid, forced out a smile. Back then, he had voluntarily withdrawn from the struggle for the title of Khan and devoted himself to wine and birds because he couldn’t bear the strife and infighting among the kings. He, therefore, had enjoyed a few years of a peaceful and quiet life. Usually, he was the one who satirized and ridiculed others, especially when he was drunk. The other kings did not want to make enemies, and all deferred to him out of courtesy.
He didn’t expect that on the first day of his public return to the fight for the throne, he would be repeatedly humiliated and blown away.
Silver Condor’s order of ‘Protect the Dragon King’ was quickly carried out. After watching the Dragon King’s contest, the Norland Cavalry preferred obeying Silver Condor’s commands to King Shengri’s.
The large circle did not change. Several hundreds of cavalry moved out of the line to line up in front of the Dragon King and his men facing towards King Shengri and his entourage. Apparently, they all knew where the danger was from.
The officer of King Shengri could only ask over the wall of people, “Lord Silver Condor, may I ask what this is all about?”
“It’s the Khan’s order. The Dragon King must be kept safe.”
The Khan’s order to protect the Dragon King actually carried with it a condition. It wouldn’t take effect until the Dragon King’s real martial arts skills were figured out, though Silver Condor felt that there was no need to declare that part.
“Then my lord …”
“He’s still the commander-in-chief of the army. The prisoners are at his disposal but I’m taking the Dragon King and his men with me.”
It was time for the Dragon King to go now. The fight that had just ended had exhausted all his energy.
Gu Shenwei had triggered his Qi deviation in public for the first time. He would have no choice but to sit down if it were a year ago. But now he was able to barely stand but his pale face and trembling body all revealed that he was in great pain.
This was also the first Qi deviation he had received after he mastered the yin and yang internal Qi. Gu Shenwei had tried to used his yang energy to harmonize with the frosty Qi and it was quite effective. Although he could not use his internal Qi for the time being, he could walk and talk normally now.
The guards were about to come up to help him, but he shook his head to hint that there was no need. While the officer was talking to Silver Condor, he finally stopped shivering. But his face remained as pale as before.
Old Man Mu, who had been staring at the Dragon King, patted his chest and yelled, “The Dragon King is alright. The Dragon King is alright. Who else wants to court death? Come and fight!”
No one wanted to court death.
The wound in his shoulder was no longer bleeding. Silver Condor took a glance at the corpse of Iron Harrier not far away and couldn’t understand his own feelings. As wing guards of the Khan, the two were actually not familiar with each other. What made him a little sad was that the road he had chosen more than ten years ago was still full of killing, and he, once the Invincible Saber King, and now the Silver Condor, had actually feared death.
“Please follow me, Dragon King. You’ve won the admiration of the Khan. He wants to see you.”
His anticipation was becoming a reality and his goal of coming to the Royal Court was about to be achieved, but Gu Shenwei did not show the slightest complacency. Since a new field had unfolded in front of his eyes, he had to take extreme measures to quickly find out where the border was.
How much was the Khan willing to pay to win over the Dragon King? This was a fact that Gu Shenwei must find out.
“What about my subordinates?”
“They’ll follow the Dragon King, of course.”
Old Man Mu clenched his fists and silently cheered, then he looked up and winked at Chu Nanping. He had escaped and kept his life again, though his trick of hiding his power had been discovered by the Dragon King.
“My men are many.”
“Aren’t they these… nine people?” Silver Condor paused for a bit. The Dragon King had twelve subordinates left but three of them had been killed so there were only nine left who were all standing behind him.
Gu Shenwei turned to look at the trapped crowd not far away. “Many people wanted to join the Dragon Army just now and I agreed.”
As soon as this remark was made, it caused quite a stir among the listeners.
His voice wasn’t loud and couldn’t reach far without the help of internal energy, but it quickly circulated by word of mouth and in almost an instant, all the people from the inner circle to the outer circle all heard what he had said. Some people were shocked, some scornful, but few people believed that the Dragon King’s action would be approved in the end.
The first to react was King Shengri’s officer who had been about to leave and had to hasten to restrain the horse. “No, this will not do. The Dragon King must be kidding, right? These people wanted to conspire against the Norland, and are therefore our enemies. They are also our captives. How can you accept these people joining the Dragon Army?”
The second to react was Old Man Mu who scratched his ears and cheeks with anxiety, whispering, “Dragon King, let’s mind our own business. Those people won’t be loyal to you. How many people in the world can be as loyal as me?”
Chu Nanping, who seldom commented on the Dragon King’s decision, surprisingly opened his mouth and said, “The Dragon King should save these people. They are innocent. They were framed and lured into the forbidden zone. They thought that the Khan was dead and had no intention of conspiring against him at all.”
“Hey, Little Chu, do you have another lover in the crowd? Call her out, there’s no problem saving one or two, why…”
“I’ve decided.” Gu Shenwei shot a stern look at Old Man Mu. The process of pestering and stalling for the time was over, so he needed to be quiet.
Old Man Mu shut up mouth but refused to hold his eyes back. He kept winking at the Dragon King and Chu Nanping, hoping to wake them up.
The news had reached the core of the besieged ones. Although few people really believed that the Dragon King could save everyone, this was the only hope for them who were drowning in despair. What if the Khan showed mercy and allowed the Dragon King to take one or even a dozen more people?
The crowd fell to their knees and shouted in unison, “I want to join the Dragon Army!”
There were many people who felt ashamed and didn’t kneel like last time, but this time only a dozen of them remained standing, and even they vacillated between kneeling and straightening up.
Old Man Mu couldn’t hold back and muttered, “See, these guys are so afraid of death. Does the Dragon King expect them to repay your favor? Forget it. It was already a miracle for them to not return kindness with ingratitude.”
Silver Condor was particularly surprised. The Dragon King was highly skilled in martial arts, but he was too proud of himself, which was not a good sign. He was waiting for the Dragon King to swallow his words. Seeing that he was becoming more and more insistent, he said, “The Dragon King may have misunderstood, so we can blame me for not being clear. The Khan pardoned the Dragon King’s men but didn’t give the Dragon King the right to act recklessly. You are going too far.”
Gu Shenwei took a deep breath. At this very moment, he was the most vulnerable he had ever been as he couldn’t even defeat an average kung fu practitioner. But he was also the most confident. “I remember that I’ve won two hours from the last game, and now there’s still more than an hour left, right?”
“Yes.” Silver Condor could only agree.
“That is to say, there’s still time to consult the Khan.”
“The Khan won’t …”
“Let the Khan decide for himself.”
Silver Condor grew even more surprised. He thought that the Dragon King had many similarities with the Invincible Saber King, but now he realized that they were completely different. And it was almost impossible for this young man to join the wing guard.
Silver Condor turned a bit colder as he did not want to do useless work. “I will go ask for instructions.”
Liman rode over. He represented King Rizhu so the cavalry made way for him.
“The lord is very unhappy…” Liman jumped off the horse and said. He could only talk openly as there was no room for a private talk here.
“He’s always unhappy.”
Liman paused for a moment before saying, “In order to… The lord has taken a lot of risks. It’s unwise for Dragon King to act like this, and it’s also a waste of the lord’s goodwill.”
Gu Shenwei didn’t say anything. Old Man Mu who was around cut in again. “What goodwill? If the Dragon King hadn’t won a series of battles, I’m wondering if the lord’s goodwill would have come in time or not?”
Liman refused to argue with Old Man Mu for there was nothing to argue about. A lord was a lord and everyone had to prove their worth before they could receive the lord’s favor. The Dragon King should know that.
Gu Shenwei knew this very well so he had never put his hopes on any of the kings. “The Khan’s decision is often unexpected, and maybe this time will be no exception.”
“Well, since the Dragon King insists, I will go ask the Khan for instructions,” Silver Condor coldly said, thinking that the deal was doomed to failure before he could even begin to talk about it.
Liman felt it was nearly impossible. But based on what he had seen and heard these days, each decision the Dragon King had made was against common senses yet they always worked wonders in the end. “The Dragon King cares about his subordinates and will receive corresponding rewards from his men for sure. I hope that the Dragon King can tide over these difficulties and form a solid allegiance with the Norland.”
Liman’s wish was sincere. He no longer tried to persuade the Dragon King but returned to King Rizhu to explain the situation.
“It’s over. You’ve offended King Rizhu and he ignored you and left straight away.” Looking at the kings who had gone away, Old Man Mu continued saying, “But it’s not bad to stay away from that old bastard. He never kept his word. He said that he would cut off Wild Horse’s other arm if he couldn’t kill me. I’m still waiting to see the show, but he hasn’t even mentioned it since.”
As time went by, King Shengri kept his word and did not take any further action. The trapped kung fu experts remained on their knees like a group of prisoners waiting to be dealt with.
Silver Condor didn’t come back but another subordinate of the Dragon King’s came, who was escorted by Liman and therefore, went to the Dragon King’s side successfully.
“The white fat fellow was bought off by King Rizhu,” said Old Man Mu disdainfully.
Fang Wenshi was sweating and didn’t have time to bicker. He drew Dragon King aside and whispered, “Does the Dragon King really want to save these irrelevant people?”
“Yes.”
Fang Wenshi looked at the Dragon King seriously and suddenly smiled. “What a brilliant idea. What can I do for Dragon King?”
Gu Shenwei glanced back for a moment. Old Man Mu immediately yelled out loud and he grabbed everyone he could to talk.
“The Norland has a prince who remains a hostage in the Western Regions, remember?”
“Yes.”
“Check him out. I’ve underestimated him, and also underestimated the Khan.”
Confused, Fang Wenshi thought for a while before smiling again. “So it’s the Khan who’s playing tricks this time.”
