Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Killers always tried to do things soundlessly. Even during the time when the stone castle was full of killers, they had to hide themselves in the dark for most of the time. Besides the training ground in the eastern part of the castle, killers were rarely seen anywhere else.
But after those killers had left, the people living in the stone castle could distinctly feel the emptiness. These tall stone walls, which used to seem very mysterious due to the existence of killers, were now merely stacks of stone bricks. Walking in those quiet alleys, people no longer had to worry that someone dressed in black with a narrow saber would abruptly show up. Instead, they were afraid of the vengeful spirits of the numerous victims that had been slain over so many years.
Killers killed people, so they were the only ones who were able to keep those spirits in the stone castle under control.
Zhang Ji naturally didn’t believe in this kind of nonsense. He just felt that it was quiet. It was so quiet that it almost felt like he was on the prairie. On the prairie, he sometimes saw the same view for several days when riding, as if there was no end. Every tent he caught sight of seemed like an intimate old friend.
He was old, and he was not used to nor did he like riding a horse. Thus, he decided to walk to White Clothes Yard, which was next to the inner chamber, and which made this journey seem even longer.
He used to be a teacher in the West Castle, someone who would leisurely walk to White Clothes Yard if he had no tasks. He would read the records and books there, which outsiders usually found boring, but which he himself found very interesting.
Zhang Ji unconsciously reached back into the past, recalling another two teenagers who had shared that common interest with him.
Shangguan Yun had been different from his peers when he had been a teenager. He had liked seeking adventures in the castle, which had made him and the Tenth Young Master very similar. However, he hadn’t needed any friends and always preferred to be alone. In his eyes, there had always been an arrogant, apathetic look which was symbolic of the members of the Shangguan family. He had had a temperament of prematurity that normally shouldn’t have appeared on a teenager, but when he had smiled, he would become joyous and unbridled, as if that mature temperament had been merely a facade.
“What’re you reading? Read it to me.” Shangguan Yun, who had barely been over ten years old, had ordered his teacher around, enunciating every word as if he were punishing a domestic ferocious dog. Zhang Ji had forgotten about many things, but for some reason, that teenager’s look and tone at that time was one of those things that he still remembered vividly.
Zhang Ji had been pondering over the former Unique King’s schemes and remarkable achievements at that time. He then raised his head in perplexity and looked at Shangguan Yun, whose figure was flickering in the sunlight from the window. He had a dim feeling that the future Unique King was standing right before him.
Before that, Shangguan Yun had been merely a naughty but smart student of his. Ever since he had become interested in the old paperwork in Zhang Ji’s hands, he had been regarded as the future Unique King.
Zhang Ji had spent a lot of time teaching Shangguan Yun, imparting all the knowledge that he had accumulated through his life to Shangguan Yun.
Shangguan Yun, who had never been an attentive student in class, had become fascinated by the private reading session in a corner of the White Clothes Yard. Soon, he had turned from a student to a debater.
The arguments between the old man and the teenager had lasted for nearly three years, during the process of which Zhang Ji had gradually become more ambitious. He wanted to prove one thing: that advisors were stronger than killers.
Shangguan Yun had become the Third Young Master. Unlike his two elder brothers who went to southern Jade City to fight for their own territory, he had taken a couple of killers and apprentice killers to travel around. He had wandered further and further. He had even visited the Central Plains and made friends there. His noteworthy conduct and independent character, to a large extent, could actually be attributed to the influence of his teacher. He had one other thing to prove: killers were not the most powerful strength of Golden Roc Castle.
But when the Third Young Master came back, people had found that he had completely turned into someone else. Not only did the Unique King find him strange, but even Zhang Ji had discovered that he had lost a good student.
Shangguan Yun had originally scarcely had any friends in the stone castle, but when he was outside the castle, he had always regarded friendship as the most important thing. Eventually, he had been sent to the dungeon and locked up after he challenged his father before being ready.
Zhang Ji had always been waiting for his student to come to his senses, but then he had met the second teenager who he found special.
Zhang Ji had been thinking about the two names – “Servant Huan” and “Dragon King,” quite often recently, but he had never been able to accept the fact that these two names belonged to the same person. Surprisingly, though Servant Huan was more diligent and also more premature than Shangguan Yun, Zhang Ji had never seen any kingly potential in him.
But now, things had turned out to be quite the opposite. Servant Huan had become the Dragon King, who was a renowned overlord in the Western Regions, and who was an unprecedentedly dire threat to Golden Roc Castle. Meanwhile, Shangguan Yun had become a nobody like a flash in the pan, a coward living in the royal palace of the Xiaowan Kingdom with no fight in him at all.
After pondering it over for several days, Zhang Ji had finally drawn the conclusion that he had gotten used to the Unique King’s style, like all the others who had lived in the stone castle for many years. The young Shangguan Yun had always held a condescending attitude towards the teacher, while Servant Huan had always acted in a modest manner. The former’s manner had been more like that of the Unique King.
Zhang Ji was ashamed of his misjudgement. His underestimation of Servant Huan had directly shifted the balance of power between Golden Roc Castle and the Dragon Army, for which he was mostly responsible.
The White Clothes Yard had also become far quieter than before. There used to be a lot of busy servants here, but this day, Zhang Ji hadn’t seen a single one yet.
Standing on a tree in the middle of the courtyard, the Unique King was looking up at the snow on the branches. Upon hearing the approaching footsteps, he said, “Golden Roc Castle is like the snow on this tree. It only takes a slight shake to cause it to fall.”
“As long as the tree stands, none of the snow will not fall,” said Zhang Ji. No matter who he was standing in front of, he would always be a teacher, and he would never admit his mistakes even if it was a terrible one.
The Unique King threw out a palm attack. He didn’t need to use his full strength to shake off all the snow without hurting the tree.
Snowflakes fell down in all directions. The Unique King stood still, but not a single snowflake fell on him.
This was a kung fu skill that Zhang Ji couldn’t understand, and which he wasn’t interested in either.
This time, the teacher was right. There was still some residual snow on the tree.
“Who’s the big tree of Golden Roc Castle?” asked the Unique King. There was a suggestion of anger in his tone.
The Norland and the Central Plains were supposed to be two big trees that counterbalanced each other. They should have provided shelter for Golden Roc Castle. This had been the plan formulated by Zhang Ji. The Unique King had made huge sacrifices for this plan. He had even given up the killer force that the Shangguan family had spent nearly a hundred years accumulating. But in the end, he had gotten nothing.
Zhang Ji had suffered a crushing defeat in the Norland, and the Central Plains had suddenly changed its stance. Even if the big tree that Golden Roc Castle wanted to rely on hadn’t fallen, it had already decayed irrevocably.
“The big tree hasn’t changed. It’s the King Lord and Golden Roc Castle that have to change,” answered Zhang Ji. He knew nothing about kung fu, so he didn’t know that he should be afraid of kung fu.
Squinting, the Unique King stared at the military counselor who was tall yet appeared to be senile. “Are you saying that I haven’t made enough changes?”
Zhang Ji shook his head. “The King Lord has been in power for too long, which makes you think that making changes is an awe-inspiring thing to do. The King Lord has forgotten that you’re entering a brand-new field. The contest for supremacy requires its contestants to play it by ear, and there are no rules.”
“But you ask me to not use the method that I’m best at using. What kind of rule is this?”
“This is an only-advance-and-no-retreat rule.” Zhang Ji’s tone became fairly severe. He was unconsciously regarding the Unique King as his student. “We can adopt any means when we’re advancing, but we can’t do the same when we’re retreating. Golden Roc Castle hasn’t lost yet. Even if it does, killers can only help you vent your hatred. They can’t change the facts.”
“The Dragon Army only belongs to that servant. Once he is dead, his army will naturally fall apart.”
“Please respect your opponent, King Lord.”
The Unique King smile wryly, but he took the advisor’s advice. “The Dragon King. Once the Dragon King is killed, the army outside the city will naturally retreat. The Central Plains will have no choice but to support Golden Roc Castle once again.”
“As long as Golden Roc Castle remains a killer organization, neither the Central Plains nor the Norland will ever support us wholeheartedly. I have explained this many times, and the King Lord should understand it.”
Of course the Unique King understood. The strong liked weapons, but nobody liked weapons that could take action of their own will. The killers of Golden Roc Castle could cut off the heads of their enemies, but they might also cut off the heads of their allies. And this was the biggest obstacle that the Unique King had to overcome to become a true king.
“Tell me. How’s the plan going?” asked the Unique King. He had summoned the counselor not to listen to his clichéd speech.
“Luoluo is mustering his army. In the east, there are still many tribes that are willing to support him, and he has more than enough troops to have another final showdown against Shulitu. We have two main problems. The first one is the Central Plains. If the Central Plains attacks the grasslands too early, then Luoluo will have no choice but to flee even further away, which will cost him his qualification for the throne. The second one is that the new Khan is the one that the Dragon King has brought to power. He has already taken the title, which means that the longer we wait, the more support he will gain.”
“Um,” the Unique King was eager to tell Zhang Ji that it only took a couple of killers to solve this second problem, but he already knew what the counselor’s response to this would be, and he also knew that the counselor was right.
“So the King Lord will have to continue being forbearing. The Dragon King is trying his best to prevent the Central Plains from dispatching troops here. If he succeeds, then it will do Golden Roc Castle a lot of good. With regards to the new Khan, when the occasion arises, I’ll promulgate the old Khan’s posthumous edict about designating Luoluo as the new Khan, and then the Naihang Tribe will eliminate Shulitu.”
Substituting instigation and bribery for assassination, which was simpler and more direct, had always been Zhang Ji’s principle, but Shangguan Fa felt uneasy about it. It was like having a man who was used to using sabers switch to using bows and arrows.
“Fine.” The Unique King knew that he and the stone castle would eventually have to change, and before they successfully made that change, he still needed this teacher who was unable to wield a saber or a sword. “I can only wait till the time when the spring meets the summer. I’m afraid the Dragon King will not choose to wait any longer at that point either.”
“The Dragon King,” Zhang Ji mumbled. It was hard to tell whether he found this name familiar or strange. “Exactly what was the reason behind the Central Plains changing its stance?”
The Unique King shared in the counselor’s confusion. “What did you tell the Dragon King?”
The Dragon King’s meeting with Zhang Ji was not a secret. In fact, the Unique King had been informed of it that very day. And after that, he had waited several days before he asked the counselor about it, which could be counted as a showing of his great trust in the counselor.
“I told him about Madam Meng’s plan, so that it would become a knot between the Dragon King and Wei Song, while having nothing to do with Golden Roc Castle.”
The Unique King didn’t want to talk about Madam Meng. “But Wei Song got cold feet.”
“If I were in the Four Noble Truths Temple, I never would have approved of the King Lord’s behavior. I had already disengaged Madam Meng from this issue, but I didn’t expected that the King Lord would want to engage her of your own accord.”
The Unique King snorted. He had thought that Madam Meng’s plan had been good. Besides, he had lost his interest in Luo Ningcha and had been willing to sacrifice her. But the trap had only been set halfway when they had been forced to give up. “I’ve talked with that person. He promised me that the Central Plains was only temporarily on the Dragon King’s side.”
“Is this person trustworthy?”
“He was the one who came to the stone castle to identify the bodies of the Gu family. When he saw the head for the first time, he said that we had killed the wrong person. But when he came the second time, he said that it was indeed the kid of the Gu family. Do you think that he’s trustworthy?”
Zhang Ji asked no further questions. He could feel that the King Lord was running out of patience. “The Dragon King will come to the stone castle tomorrow. The King Lord doesn’t have to meet him. I’ll handle it.”
“Why? Are you worried that I’ll make a mistake?” The anger in the Unique King was indeed rapidly reaching its bursting point. “Maybe the Dragon King will no longer be a threat after tomorrow. I can’t let go of this opportunity that has come to me of its own will.”
“We can’t assassinate him.” Zhang Ji was fairly angry as well. The Unique King was like a slow, stubborn student.
“No assassinations.” The Unique King calmed down, looking at the counselor seriously. He decided to exclude the counselor from the plan, repeating, “No assassinations.”
