Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Shangguan Hong didn’t expect that he would be summoned by the Dragon King. He merely received some orders from Queen Ju to come here and deliver some items that might prove to be useful to the Dragon King in winter. He had thought that this task would be very simple. Back when he was in the Royal Court, he had never received such treatment.
He still remembered that he had once gone to Heaven’s Pass and attempted to convince Shang Liao to switch sides and work for Queen Ju. That was a humiliating failure. Maybe the General of the Right, Shang Liao had told the Dragon King everything , he thought. He was worried and was still wavering over whether he should confess that he had worked for Queen Ju.
“I hate all the members of the Shangguan family.” Shangguan Hong had come up with a set of phrases to distract other people away from his relationship working for Queen, but he didn’t have the chance to use any of them.
Most of the exquisite furnishings had been cleared out of the tent, so it seemed much more spacious now. The Dragon King was standing alone beside a table and the distance between the doorway and the table seemed infinite. Shangguan Hong immediately sensed that the Dragon King had become inexplicably stately. With equal parts admiration mixed with jealousy, he involuntarily knelt down.
He had gotten somewhat used to this movement. After recalling that Servant Huan had once asked him for help many years ago, he felt that those memories were very surreal now.
“Your loyal servant… pays his respects to the Dragon King.” Shangguan Hong felt that it was very difficult to utter those words before the Dragon King. He had never felt this way in front of Queen Ju.
“Get up.”
Shangguan Hong slowly stood up. With his back bent and his head down, he looked as humble as an old slave who had served in the royal palace for many years.
Gu Shenwei peered at him for a while. From a spoiled son to a cheap slave, and then from a cheap slave to a king – he had also experienced all this, so he didn’t pity Shanguan Hong.
He was observing every subtle movement of Shangguan Hong’s body, especially the way he walked – the feet’s movements usually displayed people’s level of internal energy. The stronger the body, the more powerful the internal energy, and thus the fewer muscles people used when they walked.
Shangguan Hong was good. Like those of a well-trained servant, his steps were small and quick, and he himself had learned some kung fu, so Gu Shenwei couldn’t tell how good his internal energy was right at this moment.
“What can I do for you, Dragon King?” Shangguan Hong felt so uneasy that even his tone had become a little shrill.
“Tell me more about that secret passage.”
“What secret passage?” Shangguan Hong was greatly surprised, realizing that all his previous speculations were wrong.
“The one that you once told me about.”
Shangguan Hong still remembered it. Over a year ago, when he was departing from the Shule Kingdom of Xiaoyao Lake as an attendant of the Dragon King, he had disclosed an important secret on impulse to the Dragon King as a show of allegiance – there was a secret passage connecting the hilltop and the foot of the hill.
“Ah? Yes, I did say that.”
“Then keep talking.”
The Dragon King’s tone was casual, as if this was a very simple request, but those simple words greatly pressured Shangguan Hong. Ever since Servant Huan had bribe him back when he was a master, he had felt this overwhelming pressure, and it only grew heavier after each meeting with the Dragon King. By now, it had grown to such an extent that it was irresistible.
“Er… the thing is, Golden Roc Castle’s located on the hilltop and there’s no water source there. So, they need to bring water from the foot of the hill to the hilltop. But since they’re worried about running out of water during a prolonged siege, they dug a secret passage between the hilltop and a river at the foot of the hill to ensure their water supply in such times of a crisis.”
“They dug a secret passage?” The hilltop was hundreds of meters high. It seemed to be beyond human capability to dig a passage through the bedrock of the hill.
“I don’t know the details. I just… heard some scraps of information from Madam Meng. I’m not lying, Dragon King, really. The secret passage does exist. That’s all I know.”
Shangguan Hong was anxious and uneasy. The Dragon King didn’t use a severe tone, and neither did he ever push him. However, he still felt nervous and afraid. He really hoped that this conversation would end soon.
Gu Shenwei sized him up for a while once again. Shangguan Hong had changed considerably. Only when he became anxious did he seem to return to who he used to be in the past.
“Leave.”
“Yes.” Shangguan Hong urgently left the tent. As he exposed himself to the northerly wind, he let out a cold shiver and suddenly discovered that his skin was covered in a layer of fine sweat.
He ran to his tent as he consoled himself that there were no flaws in his words and that the Dragon King was still unaware of the truth. He gradually calmed down. When he entered his tent, he was stunned to discover that there was more to this issue.
With a smile on his face, Shangguan Fei observed his half-brother. “How are you, Chief Hong? This is your correct address, right?”
Before the Dragon King, Shangguan Hong could manage to stay composed, but in front of Shangguan Fei, who had only brought him misery his entire life, all of his anger instantly welled up. With a sudden move of his body, he pounced on his foe.
Shangguan Fei didn’t dodge, and neither did he fight back. He merely threw out his chest and said, “Goodness me! You’ve made quite some progress in your kung fu skills, Chief Hong.”
Shangguan Hong abruptly stopped. Face flushing red, he clenched his teeth and said, “What’re you doing here?”
“No matter what, we still bear the same surname. I just came here to check on you. Is there anything wrong with it? I heard that… you’re a highly favored man of the queen, and I’m actually counting on you to promote me some day.”
Countless thoughts rushed into Shangguan Hong’s mind. But in the end, he said, “That saber strike failed to kill me and that’ll be your greatest mistake, Shangguan Fei. I’ll repay you double the humiliation you’ve put me through. So enjoy your life while you still can.”
Pretending to be extremely horrified, Shangguan Fei patted his chest. “Chief Hong, are you trying to scare me to death? Don’t you know that I’m a coward? Besides, every man only has one manhood, so it might be a bit difficult for you to repay ‘double the humiliation’ to me. Ha-ha.”
Shangguan Fei burst into laughter. For the first time ever, he had discovered that Old Man Mu’s influence on him also had an upside. At least, he was no longer as clumsy when talking now.
But the flush on Shangguan Hong’s face gradually subsided. “How’s your mother? I heard that the Unique King made her move to the foot of the hill and finally regained his freedom. Mm. Every man has only one that thing, but I think Madam Meng won’t feel… ”
Shangguan Fei’s sore point had been touched, so he grabbed Shangguan Hong’s collar and raised his fist. “Don’t you dare mention my mother! I’ll smash your head in with a single punch. Back then when I cut off your manhood, the Dragon King didn’t care. If I kill you right now, he also won’t mind.”
Shangguan Hong coldly glared at him with an unprecedentedly strong will, which was something he could never have managed to do in the past. He pushed Shangguan Fei’s arm aside, turned his head, and spat onto the ground. “I’d pay to see that.”
Shangguan Fei seemed startled and his anger subsided slightly. He walked around Shangguan Hong and towards the doorway. Before leaving the tent, he said, “Don’t forget that your mother’s still in the castle.”
Shangguan Hong didn’t care at all. Mother’s a weak and useless woman. She slept with the Unique King but didn’t dare tell anybody. She also never did anything good for her natural son. Had I known that I was King Lord’s bastard son… Shangguan Hong pictured a scene: a past where he had kept his true identity a secret, but his mentality had been totally different. He would not have been that cowardly Master Hong, the twins naturally wouldn’t have dared to regard him as a servant, and neither would Zhang Ji have treated him like a disposable tool.
After a momentary sense of satisfaction, a deeper sense of depression and hatred rose within him. Shangguan Hong had a premonition that something bad was going to happen, but he was unable to control his body. He fell to the ground and started twitching violently. His arms flapped up and down constantly like two live fish which had just been tossed onto the shore.
Shangguan Hong clenched his teeth until they started chattering. After partly regaining control of his right arm, he took a little wooden box out of his front inside pocket and tried to toss the only remaining pill into his mouth.
But his hand quivered and the pill fell onto the ground. Shangguan Hong almost pounced on it like a desperate beast. He opened his mouth and swallowed the pill along with some discarded wool strands.
The twitching gradually stopped. Lying on the ground on his back, Shangguan Hong knew that he had to ask for more antidote pills again.
‘What does it feel like to be free?’ He had no idea at all.
Shangguan Fei had gone straight to the Dragon King and missed his half-brother’s stroke. “It was definitely him. I can tell from his eyes. And his strength has grown considerably. He seems like another person compared to whom he used to be.”
“It’s so strange. Back in the Royal Court, he didn’t show anything special.” Gu Shenwei had also noticed that Shangguan Hong had changed, but he couldn’t figure out the reason behind it.
“Um. It is very strange indeed. With Shangguan Hong’s average aptitude, he should have never achieved this much power no matter how hard he practiced. Let’s just put our cards on the table. Shangguan Hong’s kung fu has improved, but his personality remains unchanged – he’s still a coward and is easily provoked. After a little torture, he’ll tell us everything.”
What disappointed Shangguan Fei was that the Dragon King didn’t think that this was a good idea. He shook his head and instead asked, “Can you follow him?”
“Sure.” Shangguan Fei was afraid of taking risks, but he was not afraid of Shangguan Hong, even if Shangguan Hong’s kung fu was just as good as his. “All the kung fu that Shangguan Hong learned in Golden Roc Castle was in vain. That night, Dog Butcher and I were only a couple of steps away from him, but he never detected us even once.”
“Follow him. No matter what happens, don’t show yourself. Just come back and report to me.”
“Yes.” Shangguan Fei became even surer that this task wouldn’t be dangerous.
“I want you to go back and ask Madam Meng about something.”
“I’m at your service, Dragon King.”
“Um. Just tell her that I want to know about the secret passage in the castle.”
Shangguan Fei’s face was full of confusion. Clearly, he had never heard of any secret passages before. “You don’t believe Shangguan Hong’s nonsense, do you? That guy will lie about anything to keep himself alive.”
“Let Madam Meng be the judge of that.”
“Yes.” Shangguan Fei took his leave, but he felt depressed. If there was really a secret passage, and his mother had told Shangguan Hong but not him, then that would hurt him badly.
Shangguan Hong was an opponent whose moves were full of flaws and he didn’t concern Gu Shenwei at all. What concerned Gu Shenwei more was the one in control of Shangguan Hong.
He ordered someone to call Chu Nanping and Tie Linglong in.
Standing in front of the Dragon King, Tie Linglong was about five or six steps closer to him than Chu Nanping. From their stances, the two seemed like complete strangers to each other.
“I have a task for you…”
“I don’t want to perform tasks with him.” Tie Linglong objected immediately. She was the only one who was indifferent towards the Dragon King’s ever-growing stateliness.
“Um. I know. But this is my order.” Gu Shenwei felt a headache coming on. He didn’t know how to placate a willful teenage girl, so he had to emphasize different motivations.
Some words surfaced, on the tip of Tie Linglong’s tongue, but she swallowed them back. She didn’t raise more objections, thought she still turned her head aside to indicate her disapproval.
“Go to Xu Xiaoyi. He’ll give you an address. Keep that place under surveillance, but don’t go in there under any circumstances.”
“Are you suspecting that it is a trap?” Tie Linglong couldn’t help but ask curiously.
“Probably. So don’t fall for it. If you see anything, just return and tell me.”
“Rest assured, Dragon King. I won’t let you down.”
Tie Linglong showed excessive enthusiasm again, which gave Gu Shenwei an even worse headache.
