Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Nie Zeng’s wish was to be a lone killer with no fixed partners or encumbrances. Everyone said it was impossible but he persisted in this goal because one day he would betray his mentor, the Dragon King, and challenge him.
There was still a resolute pride in the teenager’s heart. He didn’t want to dedicate his life to caring for others and felt that being alone would save him a lot of trouble.
Both the Dragon King and the training instructor Hu Shining were well aware of Nie Zeng’s goal but they had still accepted him as a killer disciple and even appointed him to the role of personal bodyguard. This perplexed the teenager and struck deeply at his heart. He had diligently practiced for two years and put in twice as much effort as his fellow disciples, but in his enemy’s heart, he was not even a threat.
So he doubly cherished the chance to guard the Dragon King and watch his every move more carefully than even the most avid admirer, hoping to both learn from him and also look for loopholes.
In these three days, Nie Zeng had learned only one thing: The Dragon King was good at concealing himself. Had he not seen his sabersmanship with his own eyes, Nie Zeng, like many people who saw the Dragon King for the first time, would have thought that the pale-faced young man’s reputation was undeserved and that his present fame was merely a fluke of nature.
Nie Zeng believed that under this simultaneously delicate and hard cover, the Dragon King must have some weakness.
He was eager to continue following the Dragon King but it turned out that the Dragon King had shackled him with a very dangerous ‘burden.’
It wasn’t an exaggeration to call Han Wuxian a ‘burden’ because no matter how good her kung fu was and how amazing her secret arts were, she couldn’t walk with her injured feet which was a fatal flaw.
As he looked at the modified cane chair, Nie Zeng’s face turned pale. He looked up twice at Hu Shining but in the end tied the cane chair to his back obediently. Hu Shining was a good instructor, which meant he would never be soft-hearted. Nie Zeng knew that his begging would have no effect.
The teenager turned his back to Han Wuxian and kelt on one knee, regarding this humiliation as one of the prices that had to be paid during the process of revenge.
When Han Wuxian sat down in the rattan chair, Nie Zeng felt his hair bristle and stand on end as if a hairy spider was crawling from the back of his head towards his heel.
Han Wuxian was tall, sitting a head taller than Nie Zeng while in the chair. And she was heavy, at least twice as heavy as Nie Zeng had imagined. He had to circulate his internal Qi to get up.
It seemed that he was not carrying a female killer but rather a bronze statue.
Han Wuxian didn’t care about her weight at all. She put one leg on the chair while the other leg naturally hung down and swayed gently with his movements, without even wearing any shoes. Her feet, as white as polished jade, stood in stark contrast to the ugly scars on her ankles. Hu Shining shuddered at the sight and quickly turned his head, secretly congratulating himself for being lucky enough to not have to carry out Nie Zeng’s mission.
Nie Zeng couldn’t see the foot and its scar, but something about Han Wuxian did bother him. “Hey, your hair, it’s… It’s touching me.”
Han Wuxian didn’t seem to hear him. She didn’t speak until Nie Zeng’s patience had reached its end and he was about to remind her again. “Does it feel good?”
The long hair cascaded down in front of Nie Zeng like a waterfall.
The teenager instinctively dodged and only after two moves did he understand how silly his actions were. He was just about to get angry when the long hair moved away.
Han Wuxian gathered her long hair in front of her and put her hands around it as if it was a valuable lute. “This is my treasure. I won’t allow others to touch it casually.”
Gu Shenwei entered the tent and said, “Let’s go.”
It was already dusk outside. Nie Zeng’s only comfort was that few people could clearly see him in his current state. What surprised him was that the Dragon King had brought more than just two killers for tonight’s mission.
Riding on a horse, Shangguan Fei looked at the odd combination with curiosity and hesitated for a long time before asking, “Will she fall off?”
“How do I know?” said Nie Zeng angrily. Then he turned over to get on the horse, intentionally tilting his body in the hopes of getting rid of the burden shouldered onto him.
For a moment, Nie Zeng thought that he had succeeded. The weight on his back suddenly lightened, so much so that he almost leaped over his horse’s back. But when he sat down, he immediately realized that it had just been an illusion and that Han Wuxian was still sitting in the cane chair, as heavy as a stone.
Nie Zeng couldn’t see behind him, but Shangguan Fei, who had witnessed it all, was amazed and awed. This was the first time he had seen the Hall Leader of the Waning Moon Hall and also the first time he had seen such amazing lightness skills. It had looked like Han Wuxian was floating in the air and that Nie Zeng’s swing had no effect on her at all.
Han Wuxian smiled at him.
Shangguan Fei could not help but smile back. He had no special feelings for women but Han Wuxian was different, as her smile was charming but not flirtatious and was strangely like her mother, Lady Meng.
Before he realized it, Shangguan Fei had patted his horse and approached the duo.
A shadow swept past him.
If he hadn’t attended kung fu competitions these past couple of days and learned a lot of martial arts skills from Old Man Mu, Shangguan Fei would have died just then. But even so, he still fell to the ground in an embarrassing fashion. When he crawled up and touched his face, he found several bloodstains on his hands.
You … you …” Shangguan Fei felt like he had wandered in Jianghu for quite a while now yet had never seen a devil who killed so casually. Old Man Mu was ruthless but what he relied on was his martial arts skills and he would never seduce someone into approaching him before killing him for no reason at all.
Han Wuxian, still holding her long hair, pulled out a few hairs alone and looked carefully at them in the bright moonlight as if she had forgotten about the sneak attack just now.
Shangguan Fei climbed onto the horse and warily kept a wide distance from Han Wuxian, asking Nie Zeng in a low voice, “Why would the Dragon King take her out with him?”
The Dragon King had already set out. Nie Zeng, who could have patted the crupper to urge the horse to move forward, dared not to make such a simple move, so he urged the horse on with his legs instead. “Use your ears more over your mouth.”
“Pfft.” Shangguan Fei patted the horse and rode in front of Nie Zeng, having no good impressions of this teenager. Not long after they left camp, he slowed down again. “The Dragon King is sure to have a kung fu competition with the others again.”
“How do you know?” Nie Zeng had slowly gotten used to the shifting weight of the burden behind him and his tone was less stiff now.
“Use your ears more over your mouth.” Shangguan Fei laughed and chased after the Dragon King again.
The four of them finally reached their destination after the third night-watch period.
From afar, one could see several flashes of fire hundreds of paces away, and the noise of people drinking wine could be faintly heard. It seemed like they had returned to a Royal Court before the chaos.
A man in black appeared in the grass, and Shangguan Fei recognized him as a golden roc killer. Although he already knew that the two sides had allied up again, seeing the killer paying respects to the Dragon King and ignoring the young master still made him feel very depressed.
“It’s about to start. The leader is Dhuta Kingkong.” The killer disappeared into the night as he finished speaking.
Instead of running straight into the firelight, Gu Shenwei circled around again. The second killer appeared then. Nie Zeng recognized him as another teenage killer under Hu Shining. Being seen by an acquaintance, Nie Zeng couldn’t help but blush.
“Everyone under the Heavens is part of one family,” the teenage killer said softly, glancing furtively at Nie Zeng as he retreated.
Gu Shenwei began to explain tonight’s mission. As soon as the golden roc killers had discovered the whereabouts of the Central Plains kung fu practitioners, he sent more people to uncover information. “A man named Dhuta Kingkong has offered a hundred thousand taels of silver in sponsorship of a contest. It’s said that the winner will get more benefits. I need to know the details.”
Shangguan Fei gave a look to Nie Zeng, indicating that his guess was right. He knew that the Dragon King had brought him out for nothing else. But the Dragon King’s next decision surprised him.
“You two go attend the kung fu competition. Shangguan Fei, your only duty is to keep them safe.”
“What? It’s better to have me join…” Shangguan Fei quickly changed his mind on second thought. “Is the so-called contest a trap?”
“Of course it’s a trap. I need you to set it off.” Gu Shenwei didn’t want to conceal such an obvious scheme.
The Dragon King’s plans were never safe and easy. With a grim face, Shangguan Fei said, “I can protect them but the Dragon King will secretly protect us, won’t he?”
“I’ll try but I have to find out who set the trap and who the target is. So, you’d better rely on yourselves.”
Han Wuxian suddenly interrupted, “Will Lotus come?”
“As long as you show up, the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall will naturally follow suit.”
“Alas, I really miss my girls. I wonder how well Lotus trained them and if they can even block a move of mine.”
The Dragon King left the horse where it was and also hid himself in the darkness.
Looking at the expressionless Nie Zeng, Shangguan Fei whispered after making sure the Dragon King had gone far away, “You are willing to be used just like this?”
“Isn’t this what killers do?” Nie Zeng puzzledly looked back. “Are you really a young master of Golden Roc Castle?”
Shangguan Fei scratched his head. Indeed, golden roc killers often had to perform very risky tasks and pave the way for their masters. He had taken it for granted back then but when it was his turn to be used, he couldn’t help but feel that it was strange and couldn’t change his mindset even after following the Dragon King for so long.
“Well, I hope the target of the trap is not the Dragon King. Otherwise, the two of us will be in trouble.”
Shangguan Fei deliberately ignored Han Wuxian. Although this woman’s hair was very formidable, she couldn’t move and was bound to lose when encountering a swift opponent. He had made up his mind to not fight for these two burdens before they even walked into the crowd.
“Code words!” asked someone in the dark.
“Everyone under the Heavens is part of one family,” Shangguan Fei answered at once.
The identity check of the competition was obviously not very strict. After giving the code words, no one stopped them. It was not until they reached the light of the fire that a middle-aged man came up with a brush pen in his right hand and a plank covered with paper on his left hand. “I’m Ruan Donglai. May I ask for… Your Excellency’s names?”
Ruan Donglai was shocked to see a pile of black hair on top of Nie Zeng’s head but came to his senses in time and realized that it was a woman. He didn’t show the timidness in his heart but could not help looking at these three people strangely.
“This is Nie Zeng, and this is Han Wuxian My name is… Nie Tian.” Shangguan Fei gave two real names and a fake name.
Ruan Donglai frowned slightly. He was from the Central Plains but he had never heard of these three names before. After writing down them one by one, he politely said, “I’ve heard so much about you all. Please come in. The contest will begin soon.”
There were a lot of people present. The two or three hundred people had divided up into several groups and were drinking around the bonfire. Shangguan Fei and his partners had come just in time at the beginning of the contest, and everyone was starting to gather towards the bonfire in the middle.
Han Wuxian immediately attracted the attention of many people. Although these people were experienced in the martial arts world and had seen many odd people, they still couldn’t help glance twice at her.
Nie Zeng lowered his head and told himself that he was a killer and didn’t need to be famous. Han Wuxian, however, still behaved as if no one was nearby, though she occasionally raised her head and smiled at those who were looking at her.
“Dhuta Kingkong, Dhuta Kingkong!” The crowd shouted, welcoming the big sponsor of the night.
A slightly hoarse voice called out, “I have countless gold and silver coins in my hand. I will share it with whoever has the best martial arts skills. Come!”
Shangguan Fei followed behind Nie Zeng and Han Wuxian, which was a good position to protect them as well as one that was easy to run away. He looked around and suddenly noticed a seemingly familiar man. Instead of keeping his eyes on that man he bowed his head and thought about it, and soon remembered that the man was one of the Khan’s wing guards and that he had seen him once before.
‘It is indeed a trap,’ he thought.
