Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Shangguan Fei decided to take a risk. Earlier, he had tried to spread the rumor ‘the black horse will perish’ among the soldiers but his actions were fairly noneffective.
The thirty thousand horsemen all belonged to different lords and therefore, were still hostile towards each other. And not many of them could even speak the language of the Central Plains, so very few of them had fully grasped the mysterious tone in Shangguan Fei’s rumor that he had worked so hard to create.
“The black horse will perish?” Occasionally, someone might get interested in the phrase, but nobody ever took it seriously. “Is It going to die because you said it would? Who the hell do you think you are? Then I’ll say that the Khan will return to our world.”
After his disastrous failure, Shangguan Fei decided to take a risk but he didn’t want to do so alone, so he went to Old Man Mu, hoping to follow alongside him as they ‘spread panic.’
“Why would I take you with me? Your kung fu is poor. Your heart is timid, clumsy, and brainless. You used to be beat by me relentlessly, and now you back off whenever I challenge you. People like you are nothing but a burden.”
Shangguan Fei glanced at Dog Butcher, who was besides him and revealed a flattering smile. He was willing to be cursed because Old Man Mu was actually abusing Dog Butcher through him. “Although I have these shortcomings, I do have one merit. I can kill people. The Dragon King forbade you two from killing, but I can do it for you,” replied Shangguan Fei.
Dog Butcher had fought with Shangguan Fei before so he was a bit worried. “You kung fu is indeed a bit poor. Are you sure that you can do it? We’d be going deep into the enemy’s camp.”
“Of course, why can’t he?” Old Man Mu immediately changed his mind after hearing Dog Butcher’s stance. “This kid’s kung fu was taught by me. He has practiced only for a few days, but he’ll be better than you soon.”
Dog Butcher stopped objecting even though he didn’t believe Old Man Mu at all.
The three of them set out on horseback before dark. Shangguan Fei had wanted to know what the plan was, but Old Man Mu wasn’t in a good mood and only hit him as an answer to his question. So Shangguan Fei could only turn to ask the honest Dog Butcher.
“Senior Tu, your name is really… special.” Shangguan Fei planned to cotton up to Dog Butcher first before asking anything important.
Dog Butcher was indeed more amiable than Old Man Mu, but he was not used to riding a horse. As he cautiously held the reins, he looked straight ahead and said, “Generations of my family slaughtered dogs for a living. But one day, my Master saw that my sister and I had the root of wisdom and that we had the potential of reaching the truth, so he took us to the Kongtong Mountain to learn kung fu. He always said ‘Never forget who you are,’ so I changed my name to that of Dog Butcher. Later on, some friends from Jianghu thought highly of me and started calling me ‘Old Immortal,’ and after that…”
Shangguan Fei hurriedly interrupted him, “Oh, I see. Senior Tu, do we have a plan for this trip? I want to help out.”
“Plan? What plan?” Dog Butcher looked puzzled. “Oh, there is one. Didn’t the Dragon King already say so? Burn the provisions and fodder, or release the cattle; either way, we must leave behind a mark of the Court Attendants Army.”
Shangguan Fei was regretting his decision a bit now.
Without asking for the other two’s opinion, Old Man Mu rode off first. Not long after night fell, they arrived at a small camp near the Court Attendants Army.
The main camp of the Court Attendants Army was on the north side of the Royal Court’s ruins. And on its periphery were three more small camps. Well, they were called a small camps, but each of them garrisoned at least five thousand horsemen.
The three hid their horses first, then Shangguan Fei asked in a low voice, “Didn’t the Dragon King say that we had to create panic in the other armies? What are we doing here?”
“Idiot. Of course we are here to burn the grains and fodder of the Court Attendants Army, and then when we commit arson at the other armies, they will immediately assume that the Court Attendants Army is retaliating against them.”
“Right right, Old man is really thoughtful.” Shangguan Fei and Dog Butcher exchanged a glance, both thinking that Old Man Mu really was a man with a plan.
After dodging a group of soldiers patrolling outside the camp, the three of them drew closer to the camp, and Old Man Mu began to assign tasks. “Shangguan Fei, go get twelve flags and the same number of heads.”
“What? Why do you need heads?”
“How dare you talk back to me?”
Shangguan Fei stuck out his tongue and stopped speaking.
“Dog Butcher, go start a fire to frighten the cattle. Let’s starve these soldiers to death.”
Without speaking any nonsense, Dog Butcher carried his crutch on his back as he jumped up. In the blink of an eye, he had vaulted over the fence and disappeared into the field.
Old Man Mu clenched his teeth and said in a low voice, “How dare you show off your lightness skills in front of me?” As he finished speaking, he climbed over the fence like a monkey and disappeared at the same speed.
Shangguan Fei stretched out his arm. He actually had something else he had wanted to say. He had planned on relying on the power of the two masters and didn’t’ expect that he would end up alone again.
“Well, whatever,” Shangguan Fei muttered. “Maybe it’s better to work alone.”
Shangguan Fei quietly moved out and changed positions. After observing the situation for a while, he slowly climbed on top of the fence and observed for another period of time before finally rolling over it.
This was a good position without any light illuminating it, and it was still some distance from both watchtowers. Shangguan Fei took out a thin rope and tied one end to the top of the fence while wrapping the other end around his waist. Like this, he could belay down the wall as the rope unraveled.
After tightening the rope, Shangguan Fei took out the tools he had prepared: a leather bag full of an oily paint, and two leather gloves.
“Believe it or not,” Shangguan Fei murmured the words he was writing as he traveled from top to bottom on the fence. “But the Khan is the Fire God and has ascended to Heaven. I’ll let him tell you this himself this time.”
Only writing this in one place was not enough, so Shangguan Fei changed to another location without encountering any accidents along the way. He avoided all the patrolling soldiers. With his confidence increasing, he thought that it was quite fun to take risks.
Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher didn’t seem to have found a chance to make a move yet. The provisions, fodder, and livestock were very important military assets and had to be heavily guarded. Shangguan Fei was glad that he hadn’t gone with them.
He smeared his graffiti in three distinct places, and the paint was almost used up, leaving only the last step: setting them on fire.
Shangguan Fei had tried to make the brushstrokes as large as possible so that all the soldiers could see the characters ‘The black horse will perish’ in the firelight.
“Heh heh, there are several thousands of people here, so there must be someone who can read it.” Shangguan Fei climbed down and looked up at his masterpiece that was about to reveal its true face. Then he suddenly realized a fatal problem and couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. “Oh, crap! This is the Norland and a miracle of the Khan’s; why did I write it in the Central Plains’ characters?”
But it was too late to change it. All the paint had been used up, not to mention that he didn’t know any of the characters of the Norland at all. Shangguan Fei felt very anxious but when he turned around, he burst out in a new round of cold sweat.
A pair of eyes were staring at him from barely three paces away. He had no idea how long they’d been there.
Shangguan Fei’s legs softened and he collapsed to the ground, completely unable to use his kung fu.
The person propped up Shangguan Fei and asked in a cold voice, “What are you doing?”
Shangguan Fei finally recognized this person and was slightly relieved, but he was still nearly scared to death. “Tu… Tu..”
“I’m Tu Pianpian of the Kongtong Sect. Aren’t you one of the Dragon King’s goons?”
Shangguan Fei wanted to say that he wasn’t a goonm but couldn’t open his mouth to reply. He shook his head and gnashed his teeth before he was finally able to speak again. “I’m here to create chaos. Senior Tu and Old Man Mu have also come here.”
As soon as he said it, Shangguan Fei knew he was in trouble.
“Old Man Mu? He’s here, too? Why didn’t Dog Butcher kill him?” Tu Pianpian questioned, her voice growing louder and louder.
Shangguan Fei looked around and replied in a very low voice, “Senior Dog Butcher might have other plans.”
“Take me to Old Man Mu.”
“I don’t know where they went.”
“You dare lie to me?” Tu Pianpian grabbed him forcefully. Shangguan Fei immediately felt his arm ache like it was broken, causing his tears to uncontrollably pour out. He was too frightened to fight back, and could only meekly whimper, “I’ll take you to them.”
Tu Pianpian loosened her hand as she scoffed, “Ignorant kid, you really wanted me to play hard.”
Shangguan Fei looked back at his ‘masterpiece’ created through hard work. “Senior Tu, could you wait for me to…”
“No.” Tu Pianpian pressed her crutch down against Shangguan Fei’s throat.
Shangguan Fei raised his head, thinking that the Khan’s ‘warning’ could only be discovered by the soldiers before daybreak. Unfortunately, without the contrast of the fire, it would be less impressive. And he still didn’t know whether the characters of the Central Plains would rouse suspicion or not.
It was all the old woman’s fault. Shangguan Fei found an excuse for failing his mission. “They may be at the corral right now.”
“That’s in the northwest corner. Lead the way.”
Shangguan Fei had long lost his fighting spirit and dared not go through the camp directly. He moved towards the northwest corner along the fence of the camp, only taking a short detour when he neared the watchtower.
Tu Pianpian was not alone. She had brought five disciples with her, who were following from far behind.
Shangguan Fei hoped to find Dog Butcher first, and when the sister and brother resolved their disputes, he might still have some time left to ignite his three ‘warnings.’
The corral was quite large. Tu Pianpian, along with Shangguan Fei and the five disciples, went around a big circle but didn’t see Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher, let alone any sign of the animals being frightened.
When they found a quiet place, Tu Pianpian took Shangguan Fei’s arm and harshly questioned, “Are you lying to me?”
Shangguan Fei’s eyes almost popped out. “I wouldn’t dare! Old Man Mu clearly said that they were coming here to start a fire and frighten the animals, so why would they have disappeared?”
Tu Pianpian didn’t believe Shangguan Fei and was just about to play hard with him again when there suddenly came a cry from the center of the camp. “Assassin! There’s an Assassin!”
Tu Pianpian let go of Shangguan Fei and made a few short jumps, not to run away but rather towards the direction of the screams instead.
Shangguan Fei had turned around to flee but was surrounded by the five Kongtong disciples who motioned for him to follow their Aunt Master.
Shangguan Fei obediently took a few steps forward before he suddenly realized that even though he was no match for the brother and sister of the Tu family, he might be stronger than these disciples.
There were soldiers running out of various tents, shouting and looking for assassins. The five Kongtong disciples were also a little nervous.
“Heh heh.” Shangguan Fei stopped and turned around, “Hey guys, why don’t you listen to me and take this opportunity to escape. Your Aunt Master is good at martial arts and can free to come and go. Do you have her abilities?”
The five disciples looked at each other and then jumped Shangguan Fei at the same time.
Shangguan Fei didn’t want to engage in an all-out fight in the camp of the Court Attendants Army so he sped up to flee. But the lightness skills of the disciples of the Kongtong Sect were not weak at all, and they were able to easily closely follow behind and soon surrounded Shangguan Fei again.
A soldier noticed the anomaly and pointed it out with a shout, alerting all his companions as they ran towards the intruders. And before they arrived, arrows were already on their way.
In this critical moment of life and death, Shangguan Fei was anxious and angry and finally reignited his courage and shouted, “Step out of the way or I’m going to kill.”
Shangguan Fei did not have the power to fight back against Tu Pianpian. And before that, he had been defeated by Dog Butcher in just a few moves, so the Kongtong disciples did not think highly of him.
Shangguan Fei felt that he had hit someone but instead of checking it carefully, he fled and rushed into a sheep pen out of panic.
What surprised him was that there were other people hiding in the sheep pen.
Old Man Mu and Dog Butcher were carrying hay to the center of the sheepfold to light a fire. Neither of them knew why the camp was suddenly in chaos.
“Shangguan Fei.” Old Man Mu recognized the fellow jumping up and down in the flock of sheep.
Shangguan Fei was doomed to be frightened many times this night. Upon hearing someone call out his name, he almost collapsed on the ground again. Then he recognized the other side and asked, “Ehh, why are you two here?”
“Where else would we be if we weren’t here?”
“Someone called out that there was an assassin.”
“The Dragon King already said no killing tonight. Why would you think that we were the assassin?”
Shangguan Fei was stunned. “Tu Pianpian came here looking for you two.”
Those Kongtong disciples caught up again, causing Shangguan Fei to cry out and run away.
Dog Butcher stopped the disciples and asked, “Where is my elder sister?”
The disciples of the Kongtong Sect were all surprised to find Dog Butcher here. “Aunt Master…”
Before they could finish, a frightened voice came out clearly, “The Fire God has issued a decree! The Fire God has issued a decree!”
Shangguan Fei had lost his caution long ago. Even the Dragon King’s order couldn’t stop him now. He scrambled out of the small camp of the Court Attendants Army and didn’t turn around to look behind him until after he run a mile or so away.
There were several places on fire now, three of which seemed to be the areas where he had painted his rumor.
