Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Aware of the severe pain in his left arm, Shangguan Hong immediately loosened his right hand. He found himself unconsciously gouging out several bleeding wounds in his arm again.
What was strange was that, he, who had been so afraid of being hurt, and even shuddered at the thought of it, had realized that he was now addicted to it and that the burning pain felt as intoxicating as good wine.
Shangguan Hong had followed Queen Ju’s order to follow Shangguan Ru, but was several days late when he arrived at Heaven’s Pass. It turned out that he was too late. It seemed like his half-sister had cast a spell on the people of the small city; she had become one of the most famous figures in the small city in a very short period. There was even news saying that Prince Duodun had been enchanted by her and was willing to pay any price for her.
Shangguan Hong felt a deep sense of powerlessness. How could he compete with her? Martial arts, wisdom, and popularity. He was inferior to her in every aspect. His only advantage was a letter tucked in his robe.
But it was more difficult to send out the letter than he had expected. His identity as Queen Ju’s messenger had little influence in Heaven’s Pass. He had been sitting around in front of the General’s Office for nearly four hours like a beggar and his stomach was growling with hunger, but the guard of the gate only gave him one word. “Wait.”
When he finally met Shang Liao, his confidence had reached the bottom, but he still had to finish the task the Queen had given him.
The Queen was the only tree to which he clung. It was not yet tall. He had to wait patiently and show extraordinary loyalty while she was still weak.
Shang Liao, who acted coldly, took the letter from his servant, looked it through and gave it back to his servant, who then returned it to its original owner.
“I don’t understand what it means.” Shang Liao held up the teacup as if he were speaking to it.
Shangguan Hong stood a few paces away, licking his dry lips. “The Dragon King has given the Queen the right to manage the Dragon Army. That’s what it means,”
“Hmm. Strictly speaking, the Dragon Army is at Xiaoyao Lake. All the soldiers under my command are soldiers of the Restoration Army of the Shule Kingdom. If that’s what the Queen wants me to know, then please go back and tell her that I already know this.”
“It’s more than that,” Shangguan Hong said in a dull voice, feeling that he was doing something banal and stupid. He could never convince the General of the Right, even if the Queen were here herself.
“Oh?”
Shangguan Hong gave a quick glance at the servants in the room, indicating that this was not the proper place to discuss secrets. Shang Liao, however, sipped the tea slowly and waited for him to continue talking as if he had not noticed.
“Well, the Queen felt that some people might swagger around and swindle others under the banner of the Dragon King and that the generals of the Dragon Army should guard against it.”
“Just cut to the point. I can’t understand a woman’s confusing remarks,” Shang Liao said in an authoritative tone.
“Shang… Shangguan Ru. She’s the most favored daughter of the Unique King. The father and daughter have disputes, but as long as the father says a word, wouldn’t the daughter change her mind? She’s the Dragon King’s…”
“Most trusted instructor.” Shang Liao finished Shangguan Hong’s sentence for him, put down his teacup, stood up, and said, “The Land of Fragrance and the Flame Foal. Pardon me for speaking frankly, but both of these things show that the Dragon King has full trust in Instructor Shangguan. And that’s more persuasive than this… vague letter. I don’t know what the Queen thinks she is doing, but her duty is to assist the Dragon King in his internal affairs. If I could give her advice, I’d say that she should manage the palace and bear the Dragon King a prince as soon as possible.”
Although he knew the result would be like this, Shangguan Hong still left the General’s Office red-faced. He understood that Queen Ju had little influence in the Dragon Army’s power system, but he still felt humiliated when he experienced the humbleness himself.
The mission was now over. He could go back and report the insolence of the General of the Right, adding another name to the Queen’s black list. But strong retaliation was still far away. He now suspected that even if they went back to Xiaoyao Lake, the Queen might not be able to wrest too much power from Zhong Heng and Dugu Xian.
Shangguan Hong absentmindedly walked out of the city and found a shop selling wine and meat. As he drank the cheap wine and tasteless dried meat, he suddenly felt all kinds of emotions well up in his heart.
He hated the snobbishness of Golden Roc Castle, the cruelty of Shangguan Fei, the pride of Shangguan Ru, the indifference of the Dragon King, the condescension of Shang Liao, and even the weakness of the Queen and the profiteers who had sold him the wine and meat. This poor little food was even more expensive than a meal in Jade City.
Even the pedestrians in the street made him angry. There was war and death everywhere. Why not just stay at home? The Western Regions was not heaven. He wanted to yell the truth at these bewildered refugees. This place was hell, and the money they had wasn’t enough for even a single month’s living expense. Then they had to sell their children and they themselves would be enslaved.
There were full of stupid people in this city. Some people even glowed with joy at the fact that they had finally arrived at the Western Regions. Shangguan Hong had an impulse to kill all the people in the street.
But he didn’t have the guts to do so. In the face of an unhappy life and miserable world, the only way for him to deal with it was to go to sleep with the help of alcohol.
Two young street rats came over and gave him a few nudges. Seeing that he did not react, one of them searched his body while the other led his horse away, quickly ransacking the gloomy guest.
The shopkeeper turned around and went about his businesses, pretending to not have seen anything.
Shangguan Hong quarreled with the shopkeeper and desperately wanted to kill people, only to find that his saber was also gone while the shopkeeper and the waiters held huge cleavers in their hands.
As a son of the Lord of Golden Roc Castle, his kung fu was good enough for him to deal with several ordinary people unarmed, but he still retreated.
As the night wore on, Shangguan Hong found that he had nowhere to go. He had only taken a nap, but in the blink of an eye, he had been reduced to a state more miserable than the street refugees he had secretly mocked.
He walked towards the city and decided to shamelessly seek help from the General’s Office, but turned around and retreated before he even reached the city gate, telling himself that he would rather starve to death than be insulted again.
In fact, he knew that there was one person in Heaven’s Pass who would certainly help him. It was Shangguan Ru. Although she had never had a good opinion of her half-brother, she would not let him starve and go homeless.
‘That bitch has such a foolish kindness, thinking that it can wash away the sins she committed as a child,’ thought Shangguan Hong with great resentment, eliminating that idea even quicker than the others.
In the end, he decided to do what he should have done a long time ago. The killer and the robber were, in fact, the same kind of people.
The Unique King’ son was going to be a bandit now. Shangguan Hong really wanted to announce the decision loudly and let the news spread to Golden Roc Castle.
Silently, he walked out into the wilderness outside the village and hid himself in a tree.
It was already dark, and the chill of early autumn settled in as the night fell. Shangguan Hong shivered.
There were very few pedestrians. Several horsemen passed by, all of whom were Norland Cavalrymen. Shangguan Hong did not dare stop them.
A small family came up, and their voices trickled ahead before the figures appeared. “Walk a little longer, and there will be something to eat ahead.”
Apparently, this family had nothing to rob.
Slowly, the lights in the distant village went out one by one, indicating that Shangguan Hong probably would end up with nothing on the first day of his career as a bandit.
He curled up on the branches of the tree, ready to pass the night there.
Just as he closed his eyes to dream of an extravagant life, the gentle sound of hooves rang out. Shangguan Hong was immediately in high spirits.
With the moonlight, Shangguan Hong could clearly see that two women were approaching, one on a donkey while the other was walking.
An experienced robber would then think: why would two women dare to come out of the village in the middle of the night, but Shangguan Hong only had one idea in mind. After a whole day of bad luck, he had finally been blessed with two fat sheep. He did not even notice an obvious hint at the strangeness of the situation: The two women were holding umbrellas.
Shangguan Hong jumped down from the tree. He hadn’t stretched his body for a long time and almost fell on his back when he landed. He tried to say a few bitter words, but all that came out was “Money.”
The woman on foot said in consternation, “Do all beggars now beg for money this way?”
“I’m not a beggar, I’m…”
The woman on foot put away her umbrella. Shangguan Hong vaguely felt that the other side was a bit familiar. When the woman on the donkey revealed her face from under the umbrella, Shangguan Hong was frightened out of his senses. He turned around and tried to flee but fell to the ground after only taking one step. “Sorry, sorry, I… I didn’t know it was you.”
Lotus looked down and said to Han Xuan, “Look, I told you we’d meet someone we know.”
Han Xuan had had very little contact with Shangguan Hong. After a closer look, she finally remembered him. “Aren’t you the eunuch with the Queen? Why are… you suddenly a beggar? How’s my young lady?”
“Good. Uh, I don’t know. I’ve been away from the Stone Kingdom for a while.” Shangguan Hong looked at Lotus as he spoke. He had been taken to the Royal Court together with the Queen, and this devil should have been very clear on that.
Nobody knew whether it was because of the night or the moonlight, but Lotus, though she was still dressed in a white robe, seemed to have changed, appearing ethereal and a bit ephemeral, like a ghostly fairy.
“How much do you want?” Lotus asked.
“No, no, I’m not begging for money. I just hope that you can spare my life.” Shangguan Hong lay prostrate on the ground, too ashamed to get up.
“Why do you think that I’d kill you? What are you talking about?”
Shangguan Hong suddenly came to his senses and asked, “You knew that I was here? Did you here specifically for me?”
Han Xuan rudely turned Shangguan Hong’s head to the side, forcing him to look at her. “Tell me more about my young lady. How was she when you left?”
“Good, very good. Everyone likes her, it’s just that she misses you very much sometimes.”
Han Xuan was finally satisfied. With a sigh of relief, she walked back to Lotus.
Lotus handed over the umbrella to Han Xuan and said, “I’m on a special long trip but I’m not here to see you.”
Hunger and desperation made Shangguan Hong’s brain spin faster. He suddenly changed his posture, knelt on the ground, and anxiously said, “I’m here on the Queen’s order to… deal with Shangguan Ru. You also hate her, don’t you? Actually, the Dragon King doesn’t like the Queen at all. Do you want…”
Lotus only gave him one glance, but Shangguan Hong immediately felt a surge of killing aura pour down on him like a tidal wave, turning his body into an uncontrollable mess. He knew that he had said the wrong words. This wasn’t what Lotus wanted to hear. “I hate all the people of the Shangguan family. Master Commander, please take me. I’m willing to join the Waning Moon Hall to serve you.”
“What about the Dragon King? Do you hate him?”
This was a difficult question to answer. A slip of the tongue might make change his situation forever. Shangguan Hong tried to find a hint from Lotus’s face but failed. He did not even dare to look into her eyes.
“Yes,” he said in the end. “The Dragon King is the root of all sin. It was he who indulged the twins into doing evil.”
Lotus was silent for a moment before saying, “So, what you want is not money.”
“Revenge!” Shangguan Hong cried out, “I want my revenge.”
“At any cost?”
“At any cost.”
Lotus nodded to Han Xuan, who then took out two books from her robe, holding one in each hand.
“This one is the first seven chapters of the Daoless Divine Power. The last two chapters are in the Queen’s mind. After five years of hard practice, you’ll have your chance of revenge.”
“Five years,” Shangguan Hong muttered. Nobody knew whether he thought it was too long or too short.
“The other is the Seven Rotations skill. You can improve your internal energy very quickly but there’s a hidden danger.”
“That’s the manual Old Man Mu practiced.”
“Right. Choose one yourself.”
Shangguan Hong was puzzled. “Why? Why do you…”
“I can’t bear to see a seed of vengeance end up like this.”
“I want both,” Shangguan Hong firmly said.
Lotus actually did not refuse. She then produced a small box and took out a pill from inside. “Swear allegiance to me, dead or alive.”
