Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Southern Jade City was quieting down in preparation for the night while northern Jade City was just starting to stir, its “day” about to start. The autumn moon was still hanging high in the sky, and it felt like even if the sun rose, the cold moon would not easily fall.
Shangguan Fei looked back at the twilight haze of the city and sighed prophetically. “Today, all of Jade City will go mad.”
Old Man Mu raised his long sword and patted Shangguan Fei’s head, rebuking, “Are you possessed by something evil? Why would you say such ominous words? Do you want the Waning Moon Hall to own Jade City? Don’t ever say the word ‘mad’ in front of me again.”
Shangguan Fei, who had lived with his mother for several days now, had just recovered some of his old demeanor of a young master. He turned to glare at Old Man Mu, and his familiar feelings of cockiness immediately shattered. Scratching his forehead embarrassedly, he said with a smile, “I mean, once news of the Meng family being robbed gets out… I can assure you that even Golden Roc Castle will fall today, and so this operation won’t get as much attention. You know that the people of Jade City are always more interested in money.”
“Even so, those’re ominous words. If news spreads today, we’ll be in big trouble. Meng, the second one, has to last for at least five or six days.”
“Yes, yes. I was wrong.” Shangguan Fei had lost all interest by this point, thinking about when he would become the Unique King… But then again, he remembered that the future Unique King was merely a shell and that he might never return to the glory of the good old days. Overall, it made him respond listlessly, “Not five or six days. Four days are enough. The Dragon King will take over by then.”
A long serpentine line of camel teams led out of Jade City’s western gate. It wasn’t the opening time of the city gate yet, but the caravan of the Meng family had their own special privileges.
Besides the large scale of the caravan, it looked very normal. Duan Zihua, the old steward of the Meng family, was personally leading them. There were bodyguards and supply servants, and even a Golden Roc Flag in front of the team. Everything that was needed was already supplied.
Several smaller camel teams which were also headed for Heaven’s Pass emerged from the gap in the wall between southern Jade City and merged with the big caravan. By convention, they could follow the caravan of the Meng family and enjoy the highest level of security for just a small sum of money. This payment was usually given to the leader of the caravan, but Duan Zihua refused the money this time. “The times have changed, and the good old days are long gone. There’re no safe zones in the Western Regions anymore, and even I was robbed a few days ago. I have no objections if you want to follow us, but I won’t take any money, nor do I guarantee safety.”
If the Meng family couldn’t keep their goods safe, the small caravans were even less able to defend themselves, so they still voluntarily followed behind. “The war is about to start, so let’s do as much business as we can before it comes.” This was the philosophy of many merchants.
Old Man Mu and his partners were ‘bodyguards’ hired by one of the small camel teams. But what they actually wanted to protect was the Meng family’s large caravan.
Dog Butcher followed closely behind Old Man Mu. After getting used to the saber, he had completely moved on from his cane in southern Jade City, but the excitement of last night’s mission still lingered in his mind. “Don’t you think that we did it too early? They’ll find the body at first light, and then… Would they chase after us?”
“How many times have I told you, do not talk about such trivial matters. Beware of eavesdroppers.” Old Man Mu impatiently scolded Dog Butcher, “This is a so-called diversion tactic. As long as Golden Roc Castle is busy investigating the cause of death, they won’t be able to pay attention to any other matters.”
“Will it work?”
“What, you don’t believe me? The reason the Dragon King told you to follow my orders is that he thinks that I’m smarter than you…”
“The Dragon King forbade you to kill, but he didn’t tell me to follow your order.”
Upon hearing this, Old Man Mu said, “Huh, it seems that you are still unconvinced. Let me ask you something. Who made the plan two hours ago? Who led the old dog into the Bodhi Garden? And who comforted the trembling old fool pissing in his pants?”
“Instead of comforting me, you merely scolded me and hit me three times. And I neither trembled nor pissed in my pants,” Dog Butcher refuted.
Seeing that the two had started arguing again, Shangguan Fei immediately distanced himself, thinking that they were being too conspicuous, and that it would be better to pretend to not know them. This time, Shangguan Fei didn’t disguise himself as a woman. Instead, he had dressed himself up like an ugly man, showing no trace of his true self.
Tie Linglong rode through the two old men without saying a word.
“What is she doing?”
“So impolite…”
Tie Linglong went straight up to Shangguan Fei and asked in a low voice, “Are you sure that those people are Golden Roc killers?”
“There’s no way I’m wrong,” Shangguan Fei replied in an even lower voice. “I even recognize one of them. My mother has asked around. They are killers who lived on the mountainside. And many of them just retired from the castle earlier this year.”
In Golden Roc Castle, once a killer had lived past their prime, they were called ‘old killers’ no matter how old they were. There were only three destinations for old killers to go to. They could either find a job such as being a killer’s master in the castle or wait for death on the mountainside with a poor wage. Finally, some of them left the castle and joined the ranks of wandering sabermen and bandits to make a living.
“At the beginning of the year?” Tie Linglong frowned. “So it’s just a coincidence that has nothing to do with us?”
“Coincidence. It must be a coincidence.”
Tie Linglong wished that she had the Dragon King’s ability to see through the mist of uncertainty with a simple glance. But she really didn’t have a clue, so she had to put it aside for the time being.
Nie Zeng was nowhere to be seen. He was the one who had hid himself the best.
The day arrived, and Jade City faded away as they moved on. Old Man Mu glanced back for another time and let out a long sigh. “Alas, my lady is still in Jade City. I hope that she doesn’t die miserably.”
Dog Butcher didn’t recognize the sarcastic hope in Old Man Mu’s words, so he thought that the other side was worried, and comforted, “I don’t think so. Hall Leader Han is very clever. She wouldn’t act on her own without the help of the Dragon King.”
“You never know what a madwoman will do.”
The procession was not moving fast, and Dog Butcher had been waiting uneasily for news from Jade City to catch up. Every time there was a sound of horse hooves behind them, he would nervously look back. But it was quiet the whole day, and even the chilling autumn wind seemed to have stopped blowing.
While resting in the tent at night, Old Man Mu suddenly said, “I have a bad feeling.”
“What?” Dog Butcher knew that Old Man Mu wouldn’t say anything good, but he still couldn’t help asking.
“The ghost of the fake Meng Yuzun may come to you tonight.”
Old Man Mu soon fell fast asleep again with the quilt drawn over his head, leaving the apprehensive Dog Butcher alone, who tossed and turned for half the night before finally taking a brief reprieve at dawn. And as soon as he closed his eyes, he dreamed of that fat fellow. This wasn’t Dog Butcher’s first killing, but it was his first time assassinating an unprepared man who didn’t know kung fu. In his dream, the fake Meng Yuzun opened his eyes and had a desperate struggle with him.
Dog Butcher, who had been trapped in the dream, suddenly felt strangely alert and abruptly sat up, hastily unsheathing his saber.
It turned out to be Old Man Mu testing him again. With a long sword in hand, Old Man Mu jumped a few paces back and said, “Hmm, not too clumsy. You are qualified to wander in Jianghu now. Get up and let’s go.”
The news Dog Butcher was worried about but also longing for finally arrived at noon that day.
A hundred Golden Roc soldiers who had quickly marched over from Jade City stopped the caravan and demanded all the people there to turn back to the city immediately. In the blink of an eye, the news that Meng Yuzun had died of a disease had spread throughout the whole group.
Puzzled, Dog Butcher asked, “Meng Yuzun died of disease? What is this all about?”
“Death is also a disease,” Old Man Mu replied in a philosophizing tone, before reverting to his normal talking manner. “Idiot. The Unique King is comforting the people of the Meng family and secretly looking for the real culprit, who is you. Well, only a hundred soldiers came. It means that my plan worked and that Golden Roc Castle hasn’t discovered the true importance of this group.”
“But they want us to turn back to the city.”
“Don’t worry. Let’s see what that Duan Zihua can do.”
After hearing the news, Duan Zihua wailed loudly, knelt down on the spot, and started kowtowing towards the direction of Jade City. He complete disregarded the fact that his head was broken and bleeding. The leader of the small Golden Roc Army came to help him up. But when it came to turning back, Duan Zihua sternly refused, “This is a rule of the Meng family. Once the goods have left the city, one can’t turn back until they reach their destination. My master is dead, and if I break the rule, it will only bring more trouble to the Meng family.”
The two sides were caught in a deadlock. Old Man Mu became impatient and even proposed slaughtering the other side, but the others shot his proposal down as it was not necessary.
Two hours later, people of the Meng family came and brought the new patriarch Meng Mingshu’s order: “Business comes first, and family second. Deliver the goods quickly and return to the city as soon as their task was completed.”
The Golden Roc Army seemed to have also received an order and no longer insisted on their return. But they stayed, and, after camping in the evening, began to ask about everyone in the caravan’s background.
The shortness of Old Man Mu and green eyes of Tie Linglong were too conspicuous, so the two were questioned the most.
Tie Linglong proudly refused to answer any questions. Even so, she was no match for Old Man Mu when it came to being arrogant.
Old Man Mu sat cross-legged in his saddle with a long sword in hand, drew half a circle in front of him, and said, “I hereby declare that the land inside the circle is the land of the Norland. All trespassers shall die!”
“Are you from the Norland?”
“A real man of the Norland. I’m your master’s master.”
The soldiers of the Golden Roc Army angrily surrounded him, but none of them dared to approach him. “I know you. You are Old Man Mu, the Dragon King’s subordinate.”
“So what? Neither the Unique King nor the Dragon King has said anything about going to war. Do you want to make a move first?”
The Golden Roc Army and the Dragon Army were in an ambiguous state at present. War or peace was still undecided, so the ordinary soldiers were at a loss for what to do.
One of the leaders of the small camel teams came over and produced a voucher, saying that Old Man Mu and the others were acting on behalf of the Norland Army at Heaven’s Pass. The dispute was thusly solved, but the Dragon King’s subordinates were now all being watched closely. That is, all except for Nie Zeng, who had mixed in with the ordinary sabermen and was completely inconspicuous.
For Shangguan Fei, the next part of the journey was the most difficult. He was so afraid of exposing himself and being recognized that his eyes kept sweeping up and down the soldiers of the Golden Roc Army, feeling that all of them were killers hidden in disguise.
The third evening after leaving Jade City, the caravan ran into big trouble. A Norland Army of about a thousand people from Heaven’s Pass intercepted them, claiming that they had been ordered to escort the convoy.
Shangguan Fei was so frightened that he disregarded any risks of arousing suspicion and called Old Man Mu, Dog Butcher, and Tie Linglong into his tent for a discussion. “Crap, there’s still one day left before we reach the appointed place, but the Norland Army has already caught up with us. The hundred Golden Roc soldiers are insignificant, but the Norland Army has more than a thousand horsemen.”
“It’s only a thousand horsemen. As long as the Dragon King raises his arm in a call to action, he can easily call in any number of troops. There’s no need to worry about it. Just sharpen your weapons and get ready for a fight tomorrow,” Old Man Mu said excitedly. “Our task is to keep an eye on a few key figures in the Golden Roc Army and to not let them get away.”
Both Dog Butcher and Tie Linglong agreed with Old Man Mu which relieved Shangguan Fei’s anxiety a bit. But then he made up his mind that when the two armies scuffled tomorrow, his first and foremost priority would be to keep his own life safe. He had done enough for the Dragon King, and there was no need to fight for glory anymore.
On the fourth day after leaving the city, Shangguan Fei felt anxious and fearful all day and he kept looking around at the Golden Roc Army, the Norland Army, and the Southern Wilderness. Several others, including Dog Butcher, however, were rubbing their hands and clenching fists in anticipation of a fierce battle.
But the Dragon King’s army didn’t show up on time.
