Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The news of the Dragon King’s awakening spread quickly. The Second Consort and the new King Riyao Tuosai immediately sent an invitation over to discuss important matters. Fang Wenshi smilingly said, “They want to see a live and well Dragon King. And they will be even happier if you can kill someone in public.”
Gu Shenwei asked the counselor to deal with it for now. “I’ll leave in two hours.”
Fang Wenshi was growing more and more familiar with the Dragon King’s mind and routine, as he responded, “I’ll explain to them that the Dragon King was seriously injured and hasn’t fully recovered yet. The Dragon King will have time to move slowly behind. Take care.”
Gu Shenwei still had to see a few other people. These people were like old weapons that had been preserved and hung up for a long time that could be turned back into sharp weapons with a simple polish.
The first was Hu Shining, the former training instructor of the Carving Wood Yard of Golden Roc Castle, who had been reduced to living in the slums of Southern Jade City and eventually taken in by Gu Shenwei as an instructor for young killers. Due to the chaos of the war, the task was not done well and he was once again considered a failure, this time of the Dragon King’s.
Gu Shenwei, however, firmly believe that this training instructor wasn’t mediocre and that all that he needed was time. So while he was at Xiaoyao lake, he didn’t use any of the immature killer teams even in his times of greatest need. Instead, he had sent all the good candidates he brought from the Savage Forest and the Land of Fragrance to Hu Shining and asked him to train them wholeheartedly.
After a year of training, Hu Shining had finally completed a full training cycle undisturbed and unmotivated. He reported the results to the Dragon King with the message, “Twenty people are usable.”
So far Gu Shenwei had sent him nearly two hundred teenagers and only twenty people were usable at the end, which actually met the original expectation. “I need proof.”
So Hu Shining and the twenty teenage killers left Xiaoyao Lake and went deep into the eastern desert of the Western Regions, and with the help of the guide, rescued Han Wuxian from the Waning Moon Hall and killed four disciples of the Waning Moon Hall without losing any of the teenage killers.
Inside the tent, Hu Shining greeted the Dragon King respectfully and called the twenty killers inside in groups to perform a simple allegiance ritual.
The killer must have a master and there was no way about this. Without restrictions, they would become mad dogs and harm others, and subsequently die very early.
Gu Shenwei noticed that the young boy named Nie Zeng was also among them. This teenager that had come to the Dragon King to avenge his uncle’s family had ended up as a killer disciple.
The ritual of allegiance was similar to that of Golden Roc Castle. The killers knelt on one knee, gave their names, and made a few conventional oaths. When they were ready to drip blood from their fingertips into a bowl of water, Gu Shenwei halted the ceremony.
“Hold on, let’s do the blood oath later.”
Seeing Hu Shining reveal a surprised look, Gu Shenwei added an explanation. “I’d like to use another way — a more ancient way.”
He still remembered the books that he had read in the castle, which clearly recorded that many years ago, the golden roc killers had to kill an enemy together with their master before the blood oath. Drinking a bowl of water with both the killer and the master’s blood was merely a simplified ritual of the original.
Few people of Golden Roc Castle still remembered these things, but Hu Shining actually remembered a little of it. “If you mean swearing by the enemy’s blood, I think they are ready.”
The ritual of allegiance was finished halfway soon. Hu Shining reported to the Dragon King what had happened in the past few days, “I’ve arranged for some hidden sentries to be in most of the necessary positions and haven’t found anything abnormal so far. As far as I can tell, the enemy has never tried to sneak into the camp. But there are still several holes that haven’t been filled simply because there aren’t enough people.”
Hu Shining only had twenty teenage killers under him. Even if one included the forty swordsmen of the Big Snow Mountain, there were still less than one hundred people and that number was far too small to truly defend a camp of two thousand people.
Gu Shenwei made a note of the matter and said, “Remove the chains from Han Wuxian’s feet.”
Hu Shining always adhered to the killer’s principle and seldom questioned the master’s intentions. But this time he couldn’t help but warn, “Han Wuxian is very dangerous. We rescued her, but she has tried to kill anyone who comes near her.”
“Not anymore. Have her make a vow before removing the chains.” Gu Shenwei speculated on the behavior of an abnormal woman in a normal state of mind. In fact, he was not sure about what would happen at all. But this was a risk that he had to take. “Send half of your manpower to find two people for me; one is Han Xuan and the other is called Shangguan Shaomin.”
“Yes.” Hu Shining didn’t ask any further because he knew who these two people were. As to their importance, there was no need for him to worry about it. After allocating more people to search for the two, it would be harder for the rest of them to guard against the possible ‘visit’ of assassins, but this was also not his responsibility.
After pacing back and forth a few times, Gu Shenwei issued the third order. “I need a personal guard. Go call Nie Zeng here.”
Hu Shining abruptly raised his head, an action so drastic that even he himself felt disgraced. The Dragon King was very different from the previous masters he had served and each of his orders came as a surprise. “Even at Golden Roc Castle, Nie Zeng would be a qualified killer. But he has one fatal flaw. He has not yet fully gained control of the hatred in his heart.”
And the object of the hatred was exactly the Dragon King.
“It doesn’t matter.” Gu Shenwei had already gotten used to the fact that his bodyguards all had varying degrees of hatred towards him. They were like a thorn with sharp ends on both sides, one side damaging his enemies and the other side warning Gu Shenwei to be on his guard at all times.
Hu Shining didn’t understand the Dragon King’s idea, so he gave up dwelling on it and answered, “Yes.”
Nie Zeng soon arrived to see the Dragon King. Compared to their meeting two years ago, he was much taller and looked more determined, his puerile naivety had almost completely disappeared. Hu Shining said that he was not yet fully in control of the hatred in his heart, but he covered it up well.
Gu Shenwei had had such a guard ever since then.
The second person he wanted to see was Shangguan Yun. This third young master of the Golden Roc Castle and king of the Xiaowan Kingdom of the Western Regions was being held in the camp of the Land of Fragrance. The golden roc killers had taken away King Dari’s entire family but had not seriously rescued their real lord.
Shangguan Yun had fewer ropes binding him but his hands and feet were still tied, and his acupoint had been struck by Old Man Mu. He could only move freely two or three times a day. “I probably couldn’t stand the treatment if I hadn’t lived in a dungeon for years.” He seemed cynical even as he complained.
Gu Shenwei beckoned for Nie Zeng to untie the rope.
Shangguan Yun stood up and stretched himself out. “The Dragon King’s pain seems to have been borne by me while he was unconscious.”
“You know my temper,” Gu Shenwei responded flatly. Then he looked down, having no intentions of saying another word.
Shangguan Yun stared at the Dragon King with an amused smile. It seemed that his curiosity had never diminished no matter how many times he met the Dragon King. “Remember, I once said that if I was in charge, I would have formed an alliance with the Dragon King in the first place.”
“Yes.”
“Now I am in charge.”
“No wonder the killers of Golden Roc Castle ran away so fast.”
Shangguan Yun clapped his hands in agreement. “The Dragon King may rest assured. There will always be someone left.”
“Hmm, I need a reason.”
The Dragon King changed the topic so abruptly that Shangguan Yun was stunned for a while before he understood. “The reason is simple. We are all from the Western Regions and all want the chaos in the Norland to develop so that we can fish in troubled waters. Meanwhile, we also don’t want the chaos to last too long because when the big hand of the Central Plains comes in, we won’t have a chance to fish anymore.”
“I won’t give up my revenge.”
“I won’t share the Western Regions with others.”
Some alliances were destined to be temporary from the very beginning. Shangguan Yun didn’t lie about it at least.
“I’ll have my counselor talk to you.”
“I’ll wait.” Shangguan Yun stretched as he yawned again as if he were quite enjoying this limited freedom. “Only with the help of the golden roc killers could this camp be considered truly safe.”
Gu Shenwei didn’t give Shangguan Yun too much of a chance to show off. He immediately left with Nie Zeng to meet the third person, who was also a hostage like Shangguan Yun.
Liman was treated much better than Shangguan Yun. There was no rope on him and the tent was also clean and tidy. But he seemed very nervous and jumped out of bed as soon as he saw the Dragon King come in.
Shangguan Yun had revealed his goal from the very beginning, but Liman had been following others blindly this whole time. The development of everything that had happened in the Royal Court was out of his expectation and planning.
“Dragon King…”
“General Zhesu has written me a letter,” said Gu Shenwei. In that letter, Zhesu thanked the Dragon King for taking care of his son, which was both a plea and a threat but wasn’t something that Gu Shenwei cared about. “You are free now. You can go back to the Naihang Tribe at any time. I will provide you with a horse and food.”
Liman was dazed by the news. He stunned for a while before repeatedly asking, “I am free? You won’t kill me?”
“Hmm, King Rizhu is dead but the Dragon Army and the Naihang Tribe are not enemies. You can tell your father that he can choose to be either the Dragon Army’s friend or enemy.”
Liman suddenly felt more relaxed than ever and even felt about guilty about the whole situation. He should have shown more relief and indignation at King Rizhu’s death. “I’m not going back to the Naihang Tribe. I’ll go to the Western Regions. Prince Duodun is the one I truly serve.”
Gu Shenwei stared at him for a while and felt that it was the right time, so he said, “The road of the Prairie is no longer the same as before. If you like, we can go together.”
Liman was no longer that nervous. Although the Dragon King in front of him still looked sick and blood could be vaguely seen oozing from his chest, he appeared as hard as a stone and gave off the aura of a long saber firmly stabbed into the ground instead of a man casually standing there.
“I will only regard Prince Duodun as my lord after I get to the Western Regions.”
“I don’t have more requests.”
“Did you kill the Khan?”
“No.”
Liman solemnly knelt on one knee. He had seen the guards of the Dragon King perform this ritual many times before. “The Norland is going to collapse, and only a hero like the Dragon King can turn the situation around. I would like to follow the Dragon King and do all I can do to serve him.”
Gu Shenwei accepted Liman’s temporary allegiance and used him immediately. “Come with me. Let’s go to see the Second Consort and King Riyao.”
Liman hesitated a bit because the new King Riyao Tuosai was the largest enemy of the Naihang Tribe now. After a second thought, he immediately dropped the ideas in his head. King Rizhu was dead and his allegiance to him had ended. Just as the Dragon King had said, he was free.
“Is everyone trying to enlist the support of the Court Attendants Army?” Although Liman had been captured and imprisoned, he could still learn of the released news so he was very familiar with Royal Court’s current situation.
“Yes, that’s probably why the Second Consort and King Riyao want to meet with me.”
“I think I can help. I have a lot of friends in the Court Attendants Army.”
Friends? This was a somewhat strange word to Gu Shenwei now. He had just allied himself with his enemy and he knew very well that in times of turmoil, friendship might be the strongest relationship but it might also be the most fragile.
He didn’t tell Liman these thoughts of his.
