Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The mutiny started by Azheba and his fellow officers had ended without a sound. Most of the soldiers didn’t even know that an attempted assassination had taken place. After Dhuta Kingkong announced the results to the Dragon King, no one mentioned it for a long time.
“The generals want to gloss over it.” When only three of them were left in the tent, Fang Wenshi broke the silence with his thoughts and guesses on the situation. “Now, the officers won’t even be able to affect the morale of the army.”
Shangguan Ru didn’t look too good, but when she looked up, she was still smiling as if the problem had been resolved. “Well, Tuosai can be proud for one more night. Tomorrow morning, he and King Shengri will be surprised to find that the most unlikely person has become the new commandant. What shall we do next? What do I need to do?”
Gu Shenwei looked at Shangguan Ru quietly, his eyes full of doubt rather than trust. “I’d like to ask again, what did Wild Horse promise you?”
“Nothing. As I said, he just sent someone to show his friendliness. That’s it,” Shangguan Ru replied curtly.
“All right, let me ask you another question. Why are Wild Horse and King Shengri trying to buy you over? It’s as if they don’t care about the officers.”
Shangguan Ru regarded the Dragon King’s doubts as an offensive aggressive line of questioning. She sealed her lips, a gleam of anger flashing in her black eyes.
Fang Wenshi had been observing them quietly. Although he felt it was a bit awkward, he was pleased to see that the Dragon King was staying strong and calm.
“The man sent by Wild Horse didn’t say why…” Shangguan Ru finally answered but in a defiant tone.
“They didn’t say it, but that doesn’t mean you don’t know it. King Shengri is more cunning than I thought and Wild Horse has always been clever; you know very well why they are trying to befriend with you.”
Shangguan Ru grew more and more obstinate and even showed a trace of vigilance. Fang Wenshi, who was good at reading people’s faces, coughed and said, “I’ll go and see King Riying…”
“No need, I’ll just say a few words about this.” Shangguan Ru stopped the counselor while staring at the Dragon King. “There’s something I didn’t say because it involves someone irrelevant to the situation and has nothing to do with the situation of the Norland. Regardless of if Wild Horse knows or not, I will not accept his entreaties, let alone reveal any secrets. A promise is a promise. I’ll keep my word.”
For a moment the two didn’t say a word, and Fang Wenshi became worried again. The scene before him was very much like a couple’s quarrel, not a confrontation between a king and his men. “Uh, I have an idea. Instructor Shangguan can go back to camp to ready the female soldiers for war, the Dragon King can get rid of Tuosai, and King Riying will send his troops to attack. If these three measures are taken, our problem will be solved. Tuosai’s men have little faith. When their lord dies, they would surely lay down their arms and hand over the hostages.”
“That’s good.” Gu Shenwei had no objection to the plan.
“Hmm, good.” Shangguan Ru also nodded in agreement.
Fang Wenshi was secretly relieved, thinking that he had to find a chance to enlighten the Dragon King about staying away from women. “I have to go to see King Riying, as he’s still waiting for my news. The Dragon King should stay here.”
The two were left in the tent looking at each other, one cold and the other stubborn.
“Do you really want to know what Wild Horse promised me?”
“I thought that his men just came to express friendliness and didn’t say anything.”
“I lied.”
Shangguan Ru directly admitted it. Gu Shenwei suppressed his anger as he asked, “Now you want to tell me the truth?”
Shangguan Ru stayed silent, her dark provocative eyes sparkling.
Old Man Mu lifted the curtain and came inside, “The white fatty as gone. Can we come in now? There’s really not much fun out there.”
“Ok,” Gu Shenwei said.
As soon as Shangguan Fei stuck out his head, Old Man Mu rudely waved at him, “Get out.” Then he turned to the Dragon King and smiled. Even the wrinkles on his face were trembling as he smiled. “Dragon King, Good Girl, you have to praise me. I’ve made another contribution.”
“You didn’t follow my orders.”
Gu Shenwei had asked everybody not to stay away from the tent, but Old Man Mu had obviously violated that order.
“Heh Heh, my good service can make amends for my fault. Just now, when I was wandering around alone, I felt that the camp of the hundred thousand people was really big. Our thousands of people could not compare with them. Besides, the Court Attendants Army is really pampered; they have at least fifty thousand slaves and servants to serve them, and so there are more people…”
“What a load of crap.” Shangguan Ru interrupted.
“Right, the good girl has to lose her temper occasionally so as to not bottle up too much anger.” Before Shangguan Ru could respond, Old Man Mu quickly added, “But she has to know when to stop and to pick the right targets. Well, I’ll cut straight to the point. A fellow claiming to be Commandant Gulun’s attendant, though I don’t know if he was lying or not, asked me to send a message to the Dragon King and the good girl.”
The mutual surprise melted away the animosity between Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru. Old Man Mu smiled demurely and thought that he had rendered yet another service. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say this out loud as he didn’t know whether the two would be grateful or not.
“Go on,” said Gu Shenwei.
“I have to clarify that I don’t know that man’s real identity. If there’s a trick or something, do not blame me. This old man is just passing along some words.”
Seeing that Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Ru were becoming impatient, Old Man Mu didn’t ask them to make a promise, and hurried on with his story. “Gulun said that he was not a mole and the officers had misunderstood him. He had evidence but couldn’t reveal it at that moment. He has to wait until tomorrow morning but those thirty or so officers might not be alive to see that, so he is appealing to the Dragon King and Instructor to lend him a helping hand.”
“He’s the vice-commandant and I am just a foreign guest. How can I help him?” Gu Shenwei and Fang Wenshi had already come up with a complete plan so he didn’t want to stir up any trouble and also didn’t think that this deal could bring him any benefits.
“I don’t know. I’m just the messenger.” Old Man Mu shrugged and no longer mentioned the word ‘contributions’ again. “You’d better ask Gulun yourself if you have any questions.”
“It sounds like a trap.”
Gu Shenwei was a bit surprised that Shangguan Ru was actually suspicious, but he very much agreed with this judgment. “Right, perhaps King Shengri just can’t wait to get started.”
“I told you that the message might be a trap, but I’m loyal and not a traitor.” Old Man Mu tried to clear up the situation and stay away from any accusations.
No one blamed him. And Shangguan Ru seemed to forget the incident in a moment, her stubborn expression completely gone. “Does the Dragon King still want to practice kung fu? My hands are itchy too.”
Before Gu Shenwei could speak, Shangguan Ru had shouted to the people outside that she would have a competition with the Dragon King.
“Watch out for my Heart Stopping Finger; you shouldn’t lose to it for a second time.”
Her words aroused Gu Shenwei’s competitive spirit but startled Old Man Mu. If his unique skill was cracked and restrained by the Dragon King, it would be a great loss for him. Old Man Mu uncontrollably slapped his forehead and ferociously glared at Shangguan Fei who was nearby and poked him in the thigh.
Shangguan Fei was well prepared but he didn’t dare dodge. Instead, he exerted his Daoless Divine Power to shake off most of the finger energy and tried to look as if he were in pain and innocent.
Shangguan Ru rarely showed off her kung fu. And all the martial arts skills she had imparted at the Land of Fragrance were basic form, so Red Bat was the most delighted to see her play.
The scene was very much like that of when the two had first met. It was just that their statuses were now very different and their state of mind had also changed greatly.
Shangguan Ru made the first move.
Fist and foot techniques were always despised in Golden Roc Castle and looked down upon as basic skills. But Shangguan Ru started off with a set of fist techniques that Gu Shenwei had never seen before.
Only Old Man Mu and Red Bat were familiar with it, especially the former. “The Flower Soul, a very good fist technique. The High Priest of the Land of Fragrance is just an armchair strategist. After being enlightened by Old Man Mu, this set of fist techniques immediately transformed into a treasure from a waste. This set of fist technique focuses on swift and elegant movements. Combined with the Subtle Shadow Lightness Skill and the Heart Stopping Finger, it will…”
Old Man Mu spoke unceasingly and explained all of the strengths and weaknesses of this fist technique.
Gu Shenwei had learned a little of the Flower Soul fist technique from the letters Shangguan Ru wrote to him and had thought that it was just a whimsical idea of hers when she had been bored. Now, after exchanging a few moves, he couldn’t help but feel deeply impressed.
The High Priest of the Land of Fragrance kept many books which had all been taken away by Gu Shenwei and handed over to Queen Ju for her to figure out the eighth and ninth chapter of the Daoless Scroll. The disciples of the High Priest had remained in their own country.
Shangguan Ru’s original idea was to train these teenagers and turn them into real kung fu practitioners. But she didn’t want to teach them the sabersmanship of Golden Roc Castle that was specially designed for killing. So she instead asked the teenagers to tell her about all the kung fu arts they had learned, hoping to discover a valuable kung fu skill or two from it.
Her knowledge of martial arts was too shallow, so the progress of modifying the new kung fu arts was very slow. She finally an excellent great helper when Old Man Mu reappeared.
Old Man Mu had done excellent work, but Gu Shenwei could still see the obvious features of Shangguan Ru in this Flower Soul fist technique. As a set of hard-to-block fist technique, it actually possessed little lethality. It always avoided the vitals and its ultimate goal was just to strike an acupoint, not to kill.
The Seven Circles Seven Apertures Heart Stopping Finger had seven moves in total, all of which had different effects. Shangguan Ru had focused on only learning the All-compassing Finger of Immobilization and abandoned the rest of the moves.
Gu Shenwei’s palm technique was just the opposite. As it was the simplest most unsophisticated. It depended on the frosty Qi to defeat the enemy. Shangguan Ru could only avoid touching his palms.
The two exchanged dozens of moves. Shangguan Ru had hit the Dragon King several times and seemed to hold the upper hand but the internal energy she had instilled into the other side’s body was all easily shaken off and she hadn’t been able to seal any of histhe acupoints.
Old Man Mu was still boasting about the important role he had played in modifying the Flower Soul fist technique, which annoyed an onlooker.
Lianqing roared and joined the fight, “Allow me!”
Lianqing’s palm technique was from yet another style, simple yet subtle, bold and unconstrained. and yet very flexible and balanced. Each move seemed like it could split a boulder.
After a dozen or so moves, Gu Shenwei was hit in the chest.
For a moment, Lianxin angrily stared at his opponent as if remembering his brother’s death. In the twinkleof an eye, he recomposed himself and did not continue to pursuing. Instead, he saluted and returned to his original place.
Gu Shenwei’s blood and internal Qi surged and it took him a long while before he could restore his breath aggain. “What palm technique is this?”
“Formless Prajna Palm,” replied Lianqing.
Gu Shenwei didn’t know how to say it but this was exactly the palm technique he wanted. It was more suited to his frosty Qi than any of the martial arts skills presented by Old Man Mu.
After being pushed aside by Lianqing, Shangguan Ru seemed to be quite unconvinced and stood out again. “We’ve competed on most of our fist and palm techniques. Now let’s compete in lightness skills. Dragon King, I just wanted to let you know that you’ve already lost twice today.”
Shangguan Ru held out two fingers and wagged, showing off a mischievous smile she had often wore when she was little. Then she turned around and leaped out of the tent.
Gu Shenwei followed closely behind, knowing that she would take the risk tonight anyways.
Old Man Mu spread his two short arms and blocked the door, “Let’s continue competing. Shangguan Fei, go fight with the monk.”
Of all the people here, he was the only one who knew what the two’s real purpose was.
