Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Bodhi Garden was famous throughout the Western Regions for its four-colored lotus flower. It was always been one of the most popular topics of discussion in Jade City during the annual blooming season. Some people would even hide in a corner of the garden wall in an attempt to smell the fragrance of the lotus flowers, which have actually never reached the outside world. In recent years, however, the discussion became more and more focused on who the real owner of the garden was.
The former Bodhi Garden undoubtedly belonged to the Meng family. Two years ago, it had been given to their nominal daughter-in-law as a gift. But when the twins openly ‘betrayed’ their family and joined the Dragon King, the ownership of the garden suddenly became muddled. Both the Meng family and the Shangguan family seemed within their rights to lay claim to this famous garden, but neither of them had ever come forward to declare their rights.
The discussion finally calmed down a bit when Meng Yuzun, the patriarch of the Meng family, entered the garden to recuperate from his illness half a year ago. It seemed that the Unique King was quite broad-minded and generous as he didn’t reclaim his friend’s estate under the name of his daughter.
The Bodhi Garden in autumn was also very beautiful. Although the lotus flowers had disappeared, there were other flowers and trees to fill their vacancy. Had it not been for his duty to protect the Dragon King, Nie Zeng would have rather taken his time to enjoy the scenery, but right now he could only hide in the bushes like a log and count numbers in his mind at a fixed rate.
“…401, 402, out.”
A dozen paces away, two guards walked out from behind some rocks, looked around once, and then started walking towards the next hidden spot.
Taking advantage of the small window of opportunity, Nie Zeng followed the Dragon King and quickly ran forward into the next guard circle.
The Bodhi Garden was so heavily guarded it was as if the one who lived here was constantly on guard against a formidable enemy.
Meng Yuzun lived in a converted waterside pavilion, the door and window of which had been thickened. It was built above the lake and its entrance was a long extended corridor that zigzagged across the garden.
The corridor near the pavilion was full of guards with sabers as well as groups of servants. A little farther away were dozens of chiefs, both big and small, some of whom had been waiting at the gate since before dawn, only moving into the corridor late in the morning, not knowing when their names would be called.
Nie Zeng and the Dragon King did not eat or drink all day. They maneuvered around the waterside pavilion at a very slow speed, calmly observing Meng Yuzun’s dwelling place from various angles and distances.
Meng Yuzun himself never left the pavilion once. But from the expression of those who did, one could judge the mood of the richest man in the Western Regions. He must have been in a very bad mood today because most of the people who met with him ran out in such a flustered state that it was as if they were being chased by ghosts.
At the nearest point to the corridor, Nie Zeng could even hear the whispers of the servants.
“I heard someone was scolded by the lord again and was even slapped in the face.”
“Be careful, everyone. Do not get into trouble.”
Not many people visited in the afternoon. Meng Yuzun seemed to have time for a rest for a while. The Dragon King and Nie Zeng couldn’t find a chance to take approach any closer so they could only wait patiently.
It happened all the time. Those who were visited by the Dragon King were usually all shocked by his sudden appearance, but Nie Zeng clearly knew that it was all the result of a long wait. Like last night, the two of them had followed Meng Mingshu for nearly six hours before suddenly showing up.
Some opportunities were self-initiated while others were self-inflicted. The latter appeared less often, but was more covert and beneficial for them.
In the evening, a man in his fifties came out of the waterside pavilion, and like most of the people coming out, he was in low spirits, almost as if he were trampling on his own dignity with every step he took. Just for this reason, he received little attention. The guards looked around aimlessly while the servants continued whispering to each other. Their topic had changed from gossiping about their master to where they would go gamble later tonight.
Instead of walking along the corridor to leave, the man slowly stepped over the railing, looked down at the placid lake, sighed, and then jumped down.
The nearest man was just a few paces away but he was still a step too late from stopping him.
The confusion caused by the splashing of water spread like the blast zone of a powerful grenade. Nie Zeng could almost see it spreading out into the distance at various speeds; people ten paces away were still talking and laughing when several nearby guards and servants had already jumped into the water to try to save the man.
Opportunity had opened the door itself. Although the Dragon King and Nie Zeng were separated by a short distance and the two had not communicated prior to this, they still acted in perfect sync.
The chaos did not last long. The person who had jumped into the lake was brought ashore and started crying bitterly amid the noisy voices of consolation. No one noticed that two fleeting figures had entered the lake and never come out.
A roar came from the pavilion. “Let him die! Do not stop him. How much is a lousy life worth anyways? When he’s dead, let his sons pay for it! Duan Zihua, you old bastard, how dare you play tricks in front of me…”
The crowd scattered and returned to their original positions. Those several rescuers hurriedly squeezed the water from their clothes as if it were incriminating evidence.
The man who had jumped into the lake stopped crying and stood up. Everyone who saw him thought of the same thing — stray dog.
“You may rest assured, my lord. I’ll pay the debt even if I have to sell my sons and grandchildren,” declared the man loudly. Without entering the corridor, he directly turned to walk out of the garden, leaving a shallow trail of water drops along the way.
There was a long silence in the corridor. No one talked about the unlucky man who had failed to commit suicide. They held their curiosity back until after dinner when the new shift who had not seen the tragedy with their own eyes arrived.
Nie Zeng and the Dragon King clung to the bottom of the pavilion, leaning against the narrow crack to balance themselves. Heavy footsteps rang out from above them every now and then. Before he had even seen Meng Yuzun, Nie Zeng could already feel the weight of the other person.
As the night wore on, it became the best time to sneak into the pavilion, but the Dragon King instead chose to retreat.
This was completely out of Nie Zeng’s expectation.
The two swam back to shore and hid themselves in the bushes as they waited for their clothes to dry. Seeing that the Dragon King was lost in his thoughts, Nie Zeng knew that it was not the right time to ask questions, so he instead quietly stood guard nearby.
Gu Shenwei had indeed changed his mind and left the Bodhi Garden quietly with Nie Zeng. Even though the day had not gone quite as expected, it wasn’t wasted. He needed more evidence.
The night in Northern Jade City was as quiet as water, and there were almost no pedestrians roaming the street before the second night watch period.
Gu Shenwei came to the edge of the city. After having Nie Zeng hide in an alley, he himself circled around and jumped into a small courtyard before gently knocking on the east wing-room with two long raps and a short one.
The door opened. Gu Shenwei took a quick look inside and then flashed in. The man who lived here was a spy arranged by Xu Xiaoyi.
A quarter of an hour later, he joined back with Nie Zeng and they crept southward.
Nie Zeng was full of doubts. Although he had the privilege to ask questions, he still kept silent and focused on fully performing his duty as a bodyguard as he knew that the right time to ask wasn’t now.
The two arrived at another small courtyard, observed it a little, and then jumped across the nearby roofs one after another.
Nie Zeng soon found out who the owner of the house was and what the Dragon King had been asking about just now.
“It’s almost Mid-Autumn Festival.” Duan Zihua looked up at the moon and then at his wife and children around the table. He didn’t notice the intruders on the roof. The open-air family dinner was coming to an end, and he had nothing more to say except, “Go and rest.”
The women took the children back to their rooms and quickly packed up the dishes that had barely been touched. No one made a sound except for occasional the clatter as the cups and plates were brought away.
Soon the little courtyard was empty. The women blew out the lamps in their rooms, and with an uneasy nervousness they forced themselves to sleep, leaving the crisis to the men outside.
The three sons frustratedly sat opposite to their father and no one said a word for a long while. “It’s not your fault, father. It’s chaotic outside due to the war. The loss of goods was expected,” said the eldest son.
The second son slumped down on his knee and nearly jumped up with pain. “Even the Golden Roc Flag can’t find work now. What else can you do, father? Golden Roc Castle should be responsible for the loss.”
The third son was the last to speak. “The lord… The lord is not this kind of person. Maybe something changed.”
Duan Zihua waved his hand and ordered his sons to go inside. They couldn’t offer him any help, and what they said made no sense to the lord Meng Yuzun now.
Duan Zihua didn’t know how long he had been sitting there alone. He had lived a dignified life his whole life and just couldn’t understand how this could happen to him just as he was about to retire. With his mind confused and his eyes blank, he didn’t come to his senses until a shadow sat down on the empty round stool left by his eldest son.
“You…”
“Shh.” Gu Shenwei shushed him with a forefinger to the lips.
Duan Zihua was quite experienced. He immediately straightened up his body and kept silent.
Nie Zeng came over and nodded to the Dragon King before disappearing onto the roof again.
“You can speak now,” Gu Shenwei said.
“Who are you?”
“It doesn’t matter who I am. The question you should be asking is who is the man in the waterside pavilion of Bodhi Garden.”
Duan Zihua was stunned. “You are… You are a golden roc killer?” He felt a familiar quality to the other side.
“I’m not from Golden Roc Castle.” Gu Shenwei shook his head as he denied it. He was a bit surprised because even a real golden roc killer couldn’t sense his killing aura now. And yet, this ordinary old man who didn’t know kung fu was actually aware of it.
“You are a man of the Dragon King?”
Gu Shenwei no longer answered and instead asked his own question. “You met with Meng Yuzun today.”
Duan Zihua hastily said, “It’s none of your business.”
“If you want to save your wife and children then it is my business because I can help you.”
Unmoved, Duan Zihua suddenly leaned over and said, “It was the Dragon King’s men who robbed my goods. Now they’re coming out to play the good guy?”
“The Dragon King is not a robber, and neither does he care about your little goods.”
Duan Zihua’s face twitched slightly. “Right. The 100,000 taels of silver is not worth mentioning in the eyes of the Dragon King, but for me, it’s a fatal catastrophe. But if you think that you can buy me off with 100,000 taels of silver, you are wrong. The lord has been so kind to me that I won’t have any complaints even if he kills my entire family.”
“I won’t try to buy you over with 100,000 taels of silver, and nor would I want you to betray the Meng family. On the contrary, the Meng family needs your help.”
“What… What do you mean?”
“Who was that man in the waterside pavilion of Bodhi Garden?”
“Of course it’s my lord. Who else could it be?”
Gu Shenwei silently stared at him, having no intention of giving him too many hints.
Duan Zihua gradually recalled something. “It’s impossible,” he said. “How can that be? My lord… How can he be fake?” His voice was getting lower and lower as he continued thinking about the situation.
There was nothing more thatGu Shenwei needed to say. He stood up and said, “If I were you, I would keep my mouth shut and stall for as long as I could. You don’t have to do anything. Maybe things will take a turn for the better themselves.”
Dumbfounded, Duan Zihua’s heart fluctuated between hope and fear, and he didn’t even notice when his visitor had disappeared.
