Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Nobody knew when Han Wuxian had formed her habit of combing her hair as she could do it for almost a half day, fully concentrating on the task and enjoying it as if it were the only thing worth doing in the world.
Old Man Mu thought it was a very beautiful scene, but it was a little annoying to watch for too long. And he felt that he had been neglected. Strictly speaking, it was worse than neglect; he felt like he didn’t even exist in the other side’s eyes.
“Ahem.” Old Man Mu wanted to grab Han Wuxian’s attention. Seeing that his cough didn’t work, he could only speak up. “It wasn’t easy to see you. If the Dragon King hadn’t woken up, those guys wouldn’t have let me in. Actually, with our relationship… Hehe, they’d be jealous if they knew about our relationship.”
Han Wuxian seemed to have just noticed that there was another living person in the tent. She slowly turned her head and wore a faint smile on her face, which was the exact same smile that Old Man Mu remembered. His heart, which rarely found stimulation, began to beat faster.
“Who are you?”
“Me? Old Man Mu. We met three days ago, didn’t we?”
“Oh, really? Old Man Mu, that sounds like a very familiar name.”
“Very familiar? We couldn’t be more familiar with each other because I indulged myself so much with you that I’m not interested in any other women for the rest of my life.”
Han Wuxian smile on her face spread even wider as she seemed to have remembered something from the past. “Why didn’t I kill you?”
“I got away.” Old Man Mu was very proud of this. “I am the only one who slept with a woman of the Waning Moon Hall and successfully ran away.”
Han Wuxian held up her long hair and sized up Old Man Mu with her head tilted. “You didn’t seem to be like this before.”
“Now you remember?” Old Man Mu excitedly walked towards the beautiful woman, “I was much taller and handsome than I am now. I became like this after practicing the Seven Rotation Skills. But it’s all right, as I have an idea. Aren’t you also injured? You’ve eaten a lot of unknown pills and are chained down by your ankles. Why don’t you practice the Seven Rotation Skills too? In this way, not only can you cure yourself but you will also match me well. You don’t have to be afraid of being short. Have the others get down on their knees, and then we’ll be tall.”
“That’s a good idea, but the secret manual of the Seven Rotation Skills is not in my hands anymore.”
“It’s all here.” Old Man Mu patted his chest and almost cried out with joy at the thought that Han Wuxian would become like him.
He cried out, not in joy this time, but from pain.
Han Wuxian had made a move without warning and the weapon she had used was her long hair. The smile on her face was still enchanting which made people feel that it would be discourteous to dodge her attack.
Old Man Mu ‘discourteously’ jumped seven steps back and covered his neck as he landed, shocked. He had nearly been strangled by hair. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and immediately attacked Han Wuxian’s vitals to force her to stop. Even so, a thin wound had been left on his neck and blood was slowly oozing from it.
He remembered Han Wuxian was good at secret arts but her kung fu wasn’t as formidable. It seemed that his modification on the martial arts manuals of the Waning Moon Hall was quite successful. “I understand how love can turn to hatred but you are going too far. I only have one neck!”
Han Wuxian carefully put the broken long hair down beside her and turned her head to comb her long hair again as if nothing had happened just now. She behaved as innocently as a newborn baby and did not say a word before a long while. “You embarrassed me.”
“Do you think I want to be like this?” asked Old Man Mu indignantly. Now he was firmly opposed to judging a person by their appearance. “It was you who taught me the Seven Rotation Skills and didn’t tell me the outcome.”
“It has nothing to do with that. Among all the men I’ve slept with, only you’ve escaped from the Waning Moon Hall, which humiliated me among my sisters.”
“Do I have to die to satisfy you?”
“It’s a bit late but better late than never. It would be a bit helpful after all.”
“Heh heh.” Old Man Mu looked at the thin chain under Han Wuxian’s dress. It was this chain that prevented the horrific woman from moving. “Han Wuxian, save it. Other men would be enchanted by you and die either elated or confused. I am Old Man Mu, and your little tricks are useless against me. In fact, you don’t have to feel too ashamed. You are not the only woman I slept with at Waning Moon Hall and I had sex with the others in your bed several times, haha.”
“I know.” Han Wuxian held her long hair in her arms like a newborn baby, her smile growing bigger. “Several of them even had your babies.”
Old Man Mu felt ashamed that he had been used. “Lunatic. Where are those babies? Did you kill them all?”
“I thought that your children would be better, and I was wrong. They were all eliminated. Maybe I let you practice the Seven Rotation Skill too early. All the kids had your current appearance.”
“Heh heh, it’s not easy to provoke me. This Old Man is carefree.”
This was when Gu Shenwei walked in. He saw Han Wuxian holding her long hair in her arms while Old Man Mu looked like a timid little beast that wanted to attack but dared not to. With his breath held, he was staring at the other side with fierce eyes.
“Careful, she can kill with her hair,” reminded Old Man Mu. And he added one more reminder as he walked to the door, “Don’t be fooled by her appearance. This old hag is no younger than me.”
Old Man Mu left the tent, wondering if he could restrain the present Han Wuxian with the Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger he invented and that he must try it when he had the opportunity to do so.
Han Wuxian looked at the strange young man and asked, “You are the Dragon King?”
Gu Shenwei nodded and said, “We’ve met before, a long time ago.”
“Both you and Lotus used to work for Mama Xue.” Han Wuxian still remembered him. It was also because of her behavior that day that finally delivered to her the Daoless Divine Power she had dreamed about and also Lotus, the biggest hidden danger in the future.
The reminiscing of the past was over as it wasn’t why Gu Shenwei had racked his brains to save this Hall Leader. “It would be a good choice to kill you.”
Lotus had eaten the Blood Coagulation Pill, and Han Wuxian’s blood was one of the most important ingredients of the antidote.
“In that case, Lotus would only have three or five years left at most, enough for her to kill many people, many people the Dragon King might care about,” Han Wuxian replied with confidence.
“You seem to have a better choice.”
“That depends on how much you believe me.”
“I don’t believe you at all but I know that you and Lotus are enemies, so we can work together against her.”
“Ah, Lotus. It has been many years since a disciple as outstanding as she has appeared. She’s even more powerful than me, the Hall Leader. I really feel reluctant in killing her.”
Gu Shenwei waited for her next words. Perhaps he had gotten used to the garrulous prairie woman like the Second Consort, but Gu Shenwei didn’t like the Hall Leader standing before him much. He thought that she wasn’t direct enough and he could never be sure whether there was any deeper hidden meanings in what she said. He had to constantly remind himself that this was a madwoman who simply looked sane.
“We can join hands if you are willing to hand her over to me and let me do as I please.” Han Wuxian’s voice was like her smile, as illusory as a dream. And it was no exception even when she was conducting a meticulous negotiation.
Gu Shenwei shook his head and refused. “I don’t want to leave any loose ends. If I can get you out, maybe someone can get her out.”
“What if I can make sure that all they get out is a breathing piece of garbage?”
“That’s not good either. Lotus has won the support of many people. The enemy will unite under her banner.”
Han Wuxian gave out a clear and girlish laugh. “The Dragon King really is a killer trained by the Golden Roc Castle. Besides, you love her, don’t you?”
This was one of the troubles brought by women. In a way, Gu Shenwei agreed with the military counselor. No matter what kind of answer he gave, Han Wuxian would always believe that it was because of love. She and the Second Consort, though they had completely different personalities, were strangely similar in this aspect.
Han Wuxian refused to let go of this interesting topic. The Dragon King didn’t say anything, so she continued speculating herself.
“You’d rather kill her than let her suffer at my hands. Very good. Do you know Lotus’s final plan?”
“She wants the world to be in chaos and for the men kill each other. When all the men left are either dead or exhausted, the women will rule the world while she continued to hide behind the scenes.”
Han Wuxian smiled, not the mysterious smile she had been wearing on her face. Instead, she burst into wild laughter, even more frantic than a drunken Norland man, showing clear and unmistakable signs of madness. If Old Man Mu saw such a scene, his good memories would be wiped out for sure.
The laughter suddenly stopped. Han Wuxian lowered her head and stroked her long hair as if she had forgotten what she had said and she didn’t look up for a long while. “Lotus is very proud. I’ve never met anyone as proud as she is.”
“You mean she has other plans?”
“That’s not a plan. The so-called letting men kill each other is just a slogan. When she came to power, many women filled with hatred were brought in. Of course, the targets of their revenge were all men. Hatred and madness are the two ways of training disciples of the Golden Roc Castle and Waning Moon Hall. Lotus wants to combine the two so she must instill a strong belief in her new disciples that killing a man is faith. It involves both vengeance and madness. Isn’t Lotus smart?”
“What does this have to do with her pride?”
“She’s trying to imitate a man who looks down upon her and to even surpass him. That’s her pride.”
Gu Shenwei never thought that he had looked down upon Lotus. It was actually her who held grudges towards him from their first meeting, which had not dissolved until a long time later.
Han Wuxian was obviously a madwoman but that didn’t mean her words were completely wrong.
In just an instant, Gu Shenwei understood the so-called ‘looking down upon her’.
He had the ability and experience of pleasing women, all of which he had used on Shangguan Ru and Luo Ningcha. For him, it was a means of self-protection, and Lotus should have seen it very clearly for what it was but what she felt was just contempt.
Gu Shenwei forbade himself from thinking further. Knowing oneself as well as the enemy was one thing but thinking only from the other’s point of view was dangerous. That would make him weak and indecisive.
“She’s my enemy, be she smart or proud.”
“Love can turn to hatred easily.” Han Wuxian remembered the words said by Old Man Mu. “But I like it. Okay, I’m in. I’ll tell you Lotus’s biggest weakness. And I have only one request: I have to be there when you kill her.”
“You’ll see it. I’ll send someone to have the chain taken out later.”
Gu Shenwei had already walked to the door and lifted the curtain when Han Wuxian suddenly said with certainty, “Remember, I am much younger than Old Man Mu.”
