Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“What kind of man is the Leader of the Qingcheng Sect?” Dog Butcher weighed the flying dagger in his hand and repeated the Dragon King’s question blankly. “I’m not familiar with him. Uh, Senior Sister, why don’t you do the talking?”
“Why me? Am I supposed to be familiar with him?” Tu Pianpian asked back in a harsh voice.
“No, no, that’s not what I meant. I’ve been in closed-door cultivation for all these years and know very little about the going ons of Jianghu. This Sect Leader is newly elected, isn’t he?”
Tu Pianpian looked up at the Dragon King with vigilant and suspicious eyes. “I’ve heard that you were born in the Central Plains, and then later became a king of the Western Regions. You learned the saber techniques of the Gu family but now you are leading an army of the Norland to fight against other armies of the Norland. What is going on?”
“It’s a simple situation, but it has nothing to do with what I want to know,” Gu Shenwei replied flatly, trying to avoid quarrelling with this difficult old woman.
There were only four people in the tent. Fan Yongda, a disciple of the Kongtong Sect, was standing nearby, but he seldom opened his mouth.
Tu Pianpian’s suspicions didn’t abate at all. “The Kongtong Sect came to the Royal Court under the orders of the Imperial Court of the Central Plains, and we won’t go back with a reputation that we surrendered to the Dragon King.”
Fan Yongda ventured to interrupt, “Lord Wei, the Governor of the Western Regions, trusts the Dragon King very much. He once told Brother Shen that he could go to the Dragon King if he needed help or anything like that.”
“And then Shen Yongjiu died. He was killed by the Dragon King.” Tu Pianpian remembered the incident and became even more hostile towards the Dragon King.
“It was a special situation. Brother Shen was acting as a pawn of the Norland at that time…” Fan Yongda argued in a low voice.
“Shut up! You left the Kongtong Sect and the Central Plains behind just because the Dragon King saved your life?”
Fan Yongda’s face turned ashen and he dared not speak up again.
“The Dragon King wants to know what kind of person the Qingcheng Sect Leader is?” Tu Pianpian jabbed her crutch into the ground, ripping a hole in the carpet.
Gu Shenwei shook his head and said, “I don’t want to learn it from you. Since you are treating me as an enemy, please leave the camp right now. From now on, we will be enemies and let our sabers do the talking.”
Tu Pianpian blushed a little but still maintained an arrogant look. “You have to dissolve your allegiance with the Kongtong Sect. My silly brother shouldn’t have made that decision by himself, but what he said still counts.”
“I can remove you from the allegiance, but not Dog Butcher. He has to keep his promise. As for the other Kongtong disciples, I can give them another chance to make their choice for the last time.”
“No, you have to remove all of us. Dog Butcher’s mind isn’t clear. I can’t leave him here and let you bring out the worst in him.”
Seeing that Tu Pianpian was reaching for a yard after taking an inch, Gu Shenwei finally lost his temper and gripped his saber. “This isn’t the Kongtong Sect and you are not in charge here. Show me your moves.”
Although Tu Pianpian was arrogant, she still had sharp eyes and knew the limits of her abilities. The Dragon King had too many tricks and she might not be able to block him. So she turned to Dog Butcher and said, “Let’s use the Warp and Weft Staff Technique, and then I’ll be able to dissolve your allegiance to him.”
Dog Butcher was in a quandary and blushed even harder. “Senior Sister, the Dragon King hasn’t released me from my pledge of allegiance to him. As long as it doesn’t harm the interests of the Central Plains, I will be his subordinate.”
“Fool, he has a former wing guard of the Khan under his control, but refuses to reveal the whereabouts of the Khan’s head. Just with that, he’s going against the Central Plains and you no longer have to be loyal to him.”
Dog Butcher thought for a moment with his head lowered before saying, “No, that’s a lame excuse and I can’t do it.”
Tu Pianpian was so angry that she smiled instead. “All right, you just stay here then and wait for the Dragon King to invade the Central Plains with his tens of thousands of soldiers. I’d like to see what you’ll choose to do at that time. Fan Yongda, let’s go.”
Fan Yongda shivered and followed behind Tu Pianpian by a few steps until they reached the door where he stopped and softly said, “Aunt Master, I should stay. The Dragon King saved my life earlier, and I can’t just pretend that it never happened.”
Tu Pianpian turned around in surprise and snorted. “You two are really disciples of the Kongtong Sect. I’d like to see how you return to the Kongtong Mountain in the end. Dragon King, it’s fine if I tell you this. The Leader of the Qingcheng Sect is very powerful, and even ten Deng Yuanleis added together are no match for him. Consider it yourself. If you can really defeat him with your ability, then the kung fu practitioners of the Central Plains will avoid you from then on. Heh heh, I don’t think that you have the guts to fairly compete against him.”
“There’s no need to defeat him. So far, not many people of the martial arts world of the Central Plains even dare approach our camp.
Tu Pianpian took one last look at her younger brother and then left the tent.
The tent was silent for a while. Dog Butcher breathed out a sigh of relief and said, “My Senior Sister is good besides her temper. Please don’t worry about it, Dragon King.”
“I don’t care.” Gu Shenwei then turned to Fan Yongda and said, “I’m a little surprised that you would stay behind.”
During their limited contact, Gu Shenwei had felt that this disciple of the Kongtong Sect didn’t seem like a person bold enough to accept the consequences of his actions. He didn’t expect that the other side would actually choose to stay behind in front of his Aunt Master.
Fan Yongda knelt on one leg and said, “I’ve never forgotten that the Dragon King saved my life. But I was timid and postponed showing my gratitude again and gain. It was Uncle Master Dog Butcher who gave me the courage and let me know that it’s inhuman to forget a kind act.”
Gu Shenwei stared at Fan Yongda for a while and then said, “Get up and tell me about this Sect Leader.”
Fan Yongda stood up and in a voice more humble and respectful than he had ever used, said, “The Leader of the Qingcheng Sect is called Liu Qingpu. He succeeded the position of Sect Leader through a kung fu competition five years ago. I saw him once. It was during a closed-door competition among the Sect Leaders. When they came out, everyone was praising him. People of the martial arts world have extolled him to the skies and called him ‘Invisible Sword,’ but few people have seen him publicly display his skills.”
“He uses a flying dagger.” Gu Shenwei actually had some impression of the sects in the Central Plains, but had never heard of any sect leaders of the famous sects being skilled at hidden weapons.
Fan Yongda shook his head and said that he didn’t know. That was all he had on Liu Qingpu.
Dog Butcher who was still holding that flying dagger, said, “This isn’t Liu Qingpu’s hidden weapon. It belonged to Lü Tong, the former Sect Leader. Lü Tong died several years ago, so the flying dagger must have been a memorial to him.”
Long Fanyun came in to report that Tu Pianpian had left the camp along with those dozens of disciples of the Kongtong Sect.
Very embarrassed, Dog Butcher muttered, “They all listened to my Senior Sister. I had no choice in the matter.”
Gu Shenwei naturally would not blame him. After saying a few words to comfort the other side, he asked Long Fanyun to send Dog Butcher out and left Fan Yongda alone with him.
When there were only the two of them left, Fan Yongda knelt down again.
“Now you can tell me your true thoughts.” Gu Shenwei knew very well that this man had other purposes in staying behind.
“I know that the Dragon King is a practical man so I won’t beat around the bush. I’d like to make a deal with the Dragon King.”
“How can a man on his knees make a deal with others?”
Fan Yongda smiled embarrassedly as he stood up. “I may have a way to obtain the head of the Qingcheng Sect Leader and give it to the Dragon King to fulfill two goals. One is to repay the Dragon King’s favor and the other is to… exchange it for another head which is of little use in the Dragon King’s hands.”
Naturally, he was talking about the Khan’s head, which was what the kung fu practitioners of the Central Plains were all fighting for after coming all the way to the Royal Court.
“What benefits will you get from the Imperial Court of the Central Plains?”
“To tell you the truth, the Imperial Court will not reward us directly or even admit to issuing an edict to the sects. It’s those ministers who are competing for the honor of offering the head of the Khan…”
“So the Kongtong Sect will offer the head to Wei Song?”
“Exactly. In fact, the Dragon King can offer the head yourself. As long as you mention the Kongtong Sect when you do it, Uncle Master Dog Butcher and I will be able to return to our sect gracefully and my Aunt Master will also have nothing to say.”
“Tell me what you are going to do with regards to the Leader of the Qingcheng Sect.”
“Please forgive me but I can’t tell you now. Please give me a day to do some investigations, and the Dragon King may also use the time to… prepare the other head.”
The red-crowned roc stuck its head inside and gave an annoyed look to Gu Shenwei as if it was blaming him for not staying by its side.
Fan Yongda excused himself and nervously walked away from the roc.
Gu Shenwei also walked out of the tent to check on the roc’s injury which was not bad. It could still fly away at any time.
The roc’s animosity had not diminished at all. Upon seeing the flying dagger in Gu Shenwei’s hand, it grabbed it with its beak before tossing it into the air twice, throwing it on the ground, and trampling on it with its uninjured claw.
It could not speak, otherwise, it would tell the man about how it had been plotted against. Gu Shenwei was actually very confused about the whole ordeal. The roc would usually fly high in the sky. How could Liu Qingpu possibly hit it with a flying dagger?
Fang Wenshi ran to him from afar and carefully walked around the roc, saying, “Dragon King, you will not agree with the kung fu competition that the Qingcheng Sect requested, right?”
“No, I won’t.”
“Just as I said before, the Dragon King is a commander-in-chief, so how could he degrade himself and compete with the reckless kung fu practitioners of the martial arts world? Hehe, I have sent out ten groups of horsemen to sweep the so-called Qingcheng and Kongtong sects. Kung fu competition? Seriously, what a joke. This is a war between kings, not something the Jianghu wanderers can randomly join in on for fun. And —” Fang Wenshi lowered his voice, “That Azheba. Does the Dragon King really have to take him so seriously?”
Fang Wenshi’s point was simple. The Court Attendants Army was incorrigible. No one could firmly grasp their allegiance unless the Khan reincarnated. It was better to make the best of it while the soldiers were still blindly in awe of the roc rather than give Azheba the chance to try to change them.
Fang Wenshi took a look at the roc, thinking that the bird had really been injured at a bad time because it might affect the Court Attendants Army’s impression towards it.
“There won’t be a war for these two days so there’s no loss in letting him have a try.”
Fang Wenshi shook his head but stopped asking more questions. The Dragon King always had some strange ideas, but as a loyal subordinate, he could only obediently accept them.
As he looked at the counselor’s fat body, Gu Shenwei was surprised to realize that most of his changes in the past two years had more to do with this man than with Shangguan Ru.
Strangely, he had never really confided much in Fang Wenshi, and his trust in the counselor was far less than that of Chu Nanping, and the sister and brother of the Xu family.
He knew that Fang Wenshi always talked big and therefore changed the suggestions of the other side to fit his own needs, but he still listened to any advice and had made some important changes about himself, and seldom refused it.
In order to rid himself of his random thoughts, Gu Shenwei simply stood outside and dealt with all his affairs. Not long after Fang Wenshi took his leave, Hu Shining came to report on the situation. He had made a series of changes to the security system. “I can’t guarantee that it’s perfectly safe, but if anyone can sneak within a hundred paces of the main tent again, I’ll bring my own head to the Dragon King on a platter to ask for punishment.”
People came to report to Gu Shenwei one after another. Gu Shenwei spent some time mediating the conflict between Nie Zeng and Tie Linglong by appointing the two as his bodyguards: one on the left and the other on the right.
“What about Little Chu?” asked Tie Linglong.
“He won’t be a bodyguard anymore.” Looking at the teenage swordsman, Gu Shenwei was surprised at his changes as he said, “Chu Nanping, I appoint you as the Commandant of Ten Guards. You’ll be under the command of Long Fanyun, the Thousand Guard Commandant.”
“Yes.” Chu Nanping accepted the appointment. Tie Linglong, however, frowned and said, “What a lowly officer.”
“I’ll promote him to a higher rank when he performs a meritorious deed.”
“What if I make a contribution? May I give the credit to him?”
“Yes.”
Tie Linglong smiled sweetly at Chu Nanping, and then coldly glanced at Nie Zeng.
Gu Shenwei thought that Chu Nanping would have an opportunity to perform a meritorious deed soon. As expected, the horsemen sent out by Fang Wenshi came back that very evening. And the news they brought back made Gu Shenwei have no choice but to consider the invitation of the Qingcheng Sect seriously.
