Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It took Luo Qikang quite some time to pull his long sword out of Green-faced killer Eleven’s neck. He then turned the body over with the tip of his foot, produced a handkerchief, bent over at the waist, and carefully wrapped it around the sword hilt which was soaked in blood. He pinched the hilt with two fingers and slowly pulled the sword across the cloth.
The hiss was distinctly heard in the spacious main hall, which made everyone’s blood freeze. Even those Green-faced killers, who saw corpses on a regular basis, appeared to be slightly horrified.
Luo Qikang straightened his arm, shook off some more drops of blood from his long sword, and knitted his eyebrows tightly together, seemingly having no idea what to do with it.
Five or six kung fu practitioners from the Central Plains looked at the swordsman of the Luo family in awe. Suddenly, they ran up to him and produced their handkerchiefs and other similar items. Someone even directly tore off part of his own clothes and raced to wipe Luo Qikang’s sword.
Luo Qikang conveniently handed his sword to the first person who touched it. His apathetic eyes swept across the faces of the Unique King and the Dragon King. Then he returned to his original position and said no more.
Sun Chengqi seemed to have just found out that this swordsman with a slightly black face was not common. He nodded at Luo Qikang to congratulate him when Luo Qikang walked past him but received no response.
By comparison, it would be more troublesome to take the youngest son of the Unique King out of Golden Roc Castle.
At first, everybody’s attention was on that Central Plainsmen. Shangguan Cheng’s eyes were also fixed on that homely challenger whose swordsmanship was superb. For the first time ever, he began to doubt his father’s kung fu skills.
Luo Qikang had fulfilled his task. Shangguan Fei and Shangguan Hong saw the Dragon King’s signal to them and walked to the foot of the staircase in fear. They were only a couple of steps away from their father now. Shangguan Fei didn’t dare say a single word. With his head down, Shangguan Hong said, “Come, we’ll take you to your mother.”
Shangguan Cheng dimly realized what was going on. He raised his head and looked at his father’s grim face. “Is father going with me?”
The Unique King’s expression remained stoic. He patted the two small hands on his knees, held them, and gently moved them aside as he said, “I’m not. But I’ll get you back.”
“But I don’t know them, and I don’t like them either,” Shangguan Cheng said in amazement. “Why don’t you kill them all, father?”
Shangguan Hong steeled himself and raised his head, saying, “We’re your elder brothers, not outsiders.” When his eyes met the Unique King’s, he immediately lowered his head.
Even when Shangguan Hong and Shangguan Fei lived in the stone castle two years ago, Shangguan Cheng had never seen them, much less remembered that he had two elder brothers. When he raised his head to look at his father, his small heart was full of panic and confusion, but he didn’t even know what to ask.
The Unique King looked over these visitors into the distance, the look on his face growing calmer. Slightly mobilizing his internal power, he threw his youngest son forward, who landed smack into Shangguan Hong’s arms. Then he loudly said, “See our guests off.”
Zhang Ji walked forward and stretched out his arm, suggesting that they should leave.
The Dragon King and the others turned around to walk towards the gate, the Central Plainsmen carrying the body of Miao Chengxin from the Taishan Sect as well as the seriously wounded Dog Butcher. Sun Chengqi cupped his hands before his chest, paid his respects to the Unique King, and took his leave. After a few steps, Shangguan Cheng burst into tears. Han Fen stealthily picked up two pieces of her fellow disciples’ bodies, planning on taking them out of Golden Roc Castle. This was the kind of death that she wanted to die.
At the gateway of the main hall, Shangguan Fei recalled his mother’s words. Gritting his teeth, he turned around and yelled at his father, whom he couldn’t see due to the darkness, in a quivering voice. “I’ll be back!”
Shangguan Cheng cried all the way to the front gate, constantly hammering at Shangguan Hong with his small fists. Two servants were waiting there. They put three packages down to the ground, bowed deeply to their young master, and then hurriedly went back into the castle.
Zhang Ji briefly cupped his hands before his chest and said loudly, “Please pardon me for not being able to walk you any further.”
This was the first time that Shangguan Cheng had seen the world outside the stone castle. He suddenly stopped crying and stared at the over hundred guards in shiny armor on the opposite end of the stone bridge, intense curiosity glinting in his eyes.
News that the Dragon King had taken the Unique King’s last son away from him had already spread to the city at the foot of the mountain. More and more people flocked to northern Jade City to take a look, but they were all deeply disappointed. Shangguan Cheng was in a well-covered carriage, and nobody managed to catch a glimpse of the Unique King’s favored youngest son.
It was not until the Dragon King went through the east city gate that the three armies outside the city lifted their state of alert. Zhong Heng immediately went to the camp of the Dragon Army to have an audience with the Dragon King. The moment he saw the Dragon King, he asked, “Is the Unique King going to retaliate?”
Gu Shenwei had won an impressive victory. On his way out of Jade City, some people even knelt down and kowtowed to him, but there was no delight on his face. “No.”
Zhong Heng appeared very disappointed. “The Unique King’s really a tough guy. This is the only son that he has left, but he actually… The Central Plains will send someone here to take command of the army soon. And by no means will this person be as obedient as Zhang You or Sun Chengqi. If we could force the Unique King to make his move at this time… Alas, we’ll never have another opportunity as good as this one.”
For an instant, the Unique King had seemed to be about to lose control of himself, but when he had thrown his youngest son towards Shangguan Hong, Gu Shenwei had realized that he would not be tricked that easily.
“Then we shall give him another push.” Though Gu Shenwei had agree to elect the Lord of Jade City via a kung fu competition, he wouldn’t stand by and do nothing while the plan was carried out.
“What else can we do?” Zhong Heng was at his wits’ end. “Yun, Hong, Fei, Cheng – all four sons of the Unique King are now in the Dragon King’s hands. Unless you kill them all, I really don’t know how else we can provoke him.”
Gu Shenwei shook his head. He wouldn’t adopt this method. “I’ll figure something out. You just have to focus on dealing with this new guy from the Central Plains.”
“Yes,” Zhong Heng bowed and answered, but he didn’t take his leave right away. “There’s an issue that I hope the Dragon King can pay attention to.”
“Go ahead.”
“People in Jade City are having second thoughts. Many of them are trying to fawn on Dragon King. A large number of rich families have offered to fund the Dragon Army.”
“Which is good.”
“Um. But the people they went to were not generals of the army but rather Xiao Fengchai and Lü Qiying, who claimed that they had orders to accept those people’s offer on behalf of the Dragon King. Were they telling the truth?”
This was the first time that Gu Shenwei had heard about this. “I’ll have a talk with them.”
Zhong Heng knew that a more prudent move would be a moderate one, but he believed that the Dragon King would take another step forward. “Maybe I’m being a busybody, but I want to remind the Dragon King that you’re in a different position now. From an outsiders’ perspective, the Dragon Army is about to win. And many officers and soldiers think so, too. Lü and Xiao merely made the next move in advance. There will be other similar occasions when people fight for their personal interests under your banner. You have to make preparations early.”
Gu Shenwei thanked Zhong Heng for reminding him. After seeing the Prime Minister off, he pondered it over for a while and realized that he still had a long way to go on the path of vying for supremacy. Addressing internal disputes was no easier, if not more complex, than fighting battles.
This night, Gu Shenwei’s thoughts alternated between how best to provoke the Unique King and the intricacies of Luo Qikang’s swordsmanship. He tried to temporarily leave the issue concerning Xiao Fengchai and Lü Qiying aside and deal with it later, but eventually, he failed to figure any of these three issues out. The next morning, he became the one who was provoked first.
Not long after daybreak, Luo Ningcha turned up uninvited again. She looked even angrier than the last time she had come, as she was followed by a handmaid who had scratches on her face. With a resigned look, the handmaid was carrying Shangguan Cheng who was crying. Another handmaid was carrying the packages that the Dragon King had brought back from Golden Roc Castle.
“Figure something out. He’s driving me crazy,” Luo Ningcha said angrily, not mentioning her son’s parentage, which was fairly surprising.
Gu Shenwei was even more bored than she was. He disliked both this woman and the child, so he flatly replied, “You’re his mother. You should be able to figure something out yourself.”
Crying, Shangguan Cheng said, “I want father. I don’t want mother. I want to go back to the stone castle.”
Luo Ningcha got mad. “You ungrateful kid! The Golden Roc Castle is toast. I went through so much trouble to get you out of there, and you want to return? You want to die with Shangguan Fa?”
Shangguan Cheng was stunned. He didn’t know who Shangguan Fa was. “There are golden rocs in the stone castle, so the castle will never fall. The enemies are toast. He – He’s the enemy.”
“He’s your… “Luo Ningcha forbore herself from telling the truth in time. “Put him down. Let the Dragon King teach him how to behave.”
The handmaid followed the order immediately. The other handmaid also put the packages down and then left with the mistress.
Gu Shenwei always had quick reflexes under normal circumstances, but in this occasion, he failed to react in time. Before he could speak, he and the child who was less than five years old were the only two people left in the tent, standing there gazing at each other
Clenching his fists, Shangguan Cheng stopped crying, raised his head, and stared at the Dragon King. Then he raised his hand to wipe off his tears and said, “You’re a coward. You didn’t dare to have a kung fu competition with my father.”
“What do you know about being a coward?” Not knowing what to say, Gu Shenwei asked a rhetorical question.
“A coward is… a poltroon, who’s afraid of death, and who doesn’t dare to fight with someone whose kung fu is better.”
“You’re not afraid of death?” Gu Shenwei asked another rhetorical question.
Shangguan Cheng responded by taking practical action. He hurried to the package beside him, dug around in it, and then took out a sheathed narrow saber. But this weapon was too long and also too heavy for him. He couldn’t even unsheathe it. After trying for a while, he tossed it to the ground and dug some more. This time, he produced a short sword.
“I’m not afraid of death,” Shangguan Cheng said loudly as he held the short sword.
Gu Shenwei looked at that flurried little kid and snorted. “Then you’re very stupid.”
Shangguan Cheng didn’t understand the meaning of this remark. “I’m not stupid. Father said that I’m the smartest.” Then he held the sword with both hands and rushed at Gu Shenwei, yelling.
Gu Shenwei was certain about one thing – this was definitely Luo Ningcha’s son. He conveniently snatched the short sword from him and sidestepped the kid.
Shangguan Cheng, who had inexplicably lost his weapon, fell to the carpet with a thud.
With a narrow blade, the sword was less than two feet in length. It was still too long for Shangguan Cheng, but in Gu Shenwei’s hands, it looked like a toy. Looking at this sword, Gu Shenwei felt a sudden surge of sadness.
This was his sword. His father, Gu Lun, had specially forged this short sword for him. Then, Shangguan Nu had given it to his younger sister as a gift. A few years ago, when Gu Shenwei decided to escape from the Golden Roc Castle, Shangguan Ru gave it back to him.
Gu Shenwei had failed to take the short sword with him. It had been lost in the arrow tower near the Reincarnation Cliff.
“Who gave this to you?” asked Gu Shenwei.
Shangguan Cheng picked himself up. He still didn’t understand how his sword had ended up in Gu Shenwei’s hands. “I want it back.”
“Answer my question first.”
They stared at each other for a while, and then Shangguan Cheng yielded. “My sister gave it to me. She’s the kindest.”
It had also been two years since Shangguan Ru had left the stone castle. It was surprising that Shangguan Cheng still remembered her.
Maybe some killer had found this sword and handed it to the lady, or maybe Shangguan Ru herself had gone to the Reincarnation Cliff and found this lost sword. Gu Shenwei was somewhat confused as to why Shangguan Ru had given his sword to such a young kid.
He pinched the tip of the sword with the hilt pointed at Shangguan Cheng. He had thought of someone who would be suitable to keep an eye on this little kid, and he had also thought of a new plan to provoke the Unique King.
