Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Du Jian’s eyes finally saw the two big birds. He was initially confused, but soon became pleasantly surprised. “Aren’t these the golden rocs? So it turns out that they haven’t been burnt down. The King Lord will be happy to hear it for sure.”
Han Fen turned around and said, “I’m even happier.”
Du Jian snorted but refrained from answering. It was a rare case that Han Fen could see through another person’s thoughts. “I hereby declare that these two birds are mine. I will give them to whoever I want, and I will certainly not give them to the Unique King,” Han Fen said.
“Yours?” Du Jian asked, his voice full of disdain. “How dare you say that?”
Han Fen’s eyes widened. “Because I saw them first. First come, first served. Don’t you know the rules?”
“The golden rocs have been in the castle for more than ten years and was stolen by the Waning Moon Hall. What’s this so-called ‘first come, first served’?”
“Seven years,” Gu Shenwei corrected.
“Seven years of what?” Du Jian’s heart thumped because he suddenly remembered the rumors about the Dragon King owning a great roc.
“These two birds were killed seven years ago in Golden Roc Castle. They are free. They don’t belong to anyone, including the Unique King.”
Han Fen was a bit disappointed. “Not even me? I’ll treat them as my treasures. The little kid always brags about his stuff, I can…”
Du Jian responded with a sneer. “Heh heh, I can’t decide who the golden rocs belong to either. Everything is up to the King Lord…” The underground maze was full of danger, and he had had enough. Now that he knew the whereabouts of the golden rocs, it was enough for him to report to the Unique King, and he didn’t have to take any more risks. After signaling the bodyguard to guard his rear, he turned to walk towards the corridor outside the hall.
Han Fen crouched a little bit and hissed like an irritated wildcat. “No, everything is up to the Master Commander.”
Having no intention of arguing, Du Jian quickened his pace. The bodyguard drew his saber and stood where he was, looking warily at the Dragon King. His duty did not allow him to turn around and run away no matter if he was the Dragon King’s match or not.
The Dragon King didn’t move. Actually, it was the eccentric disciple of the Waning Moon Hall who was eager to make a move. The bodyguard calculated the speed of the sect leader Du Jian and felt that it was about time, and he also began to retreat from the hall.
“Ahh…” A scream suddenly came from the corridor.
The bodyguard turned abruptly and stared into the dark corridor.
Du Jian walked back with his arms before him, groping along. His eyes were bleeding and his face was covered in blood.
“Help me,” he said as if he were giving orders to the bodyguard.
“Please help me,” he said again. It seemed like he was begging the Dragon King.
The bodyguard’s killer’s instinct kicked in. He remained unmoved by both the order and the begging of his sect leader and quietly get out of the way to let Du Jian pass while his eyes remained fixed on the dark corridor.
A young woman walked into the torch-lit hall with silent footsteps and a long sword in her hand. She turned a blind eye to the others, and followed Du Jian intently, observing his every move.
“Help me…” Du Jian was still groping his way along, getting closer and closer to the Dragon King and Han Fen.
The bodyguard took two steps back. Du Jian was just a nominal sect leader of the Heavenly Mountain Sect and couldn’t obtain his subordinate’s full allegiance.
“Han Ling?” Han Fen called out in a low voice as she retreated behind the Dragon King, looking a bit timid.
The young woman named Han Ling turned a deaf ear to the call and drew nearer and nearer to Du Jian.
“Who is it?” Du Jian finally felt the danger behind him. He abruptly turned and drew his narrow saber, his bright red eyes looking fiercer than ever.
Han Ling stabbed at the bleeding eyes again, her moves as gentle as falling leaves and as swift as a cat.
Du Jian had once been a good killer. His last assassination mission had been two years ago. In the face of the Dragon King who was concentrating on healing himself, he had still failed miserably. Since then, he had struggled to shed his killer’s identity in the hopes of gaining more security with a higher status. But in the end, it turned out that he had even lost his alertness and self-protection ability as a killer.
The two shots were the same, but Du Jian still could not resist. He could not even counterattack. The only difference was that these two blows were deadly.
The moment Du Jian fell, the bodyguard in the corner moved slightly. This was the best time for him to make a move, but he quickly stabilized himself. The Dragon King didn’t move, so he also didn’t want to move.
“You’re Han Ling?” Gu Shenwei asked. Han Fen kept nodding behind him, but she dared not to utter a sound. She used to know this Waning Moon Hall disciple, but she now felt that the other side was acting very strangely.
Han Ling stooped to check the corpse for a while before looking up and saying, “Too much blood. It means that I have not yet mastered the killing intent in my heart. The sword moves are purely offensive, but the practitioner has to be both defensive and offensive at heart. It is too difficult. The Waning Moon Swordsmanship is too difficult.”
Han Fen mustered up some courage, stuck out her head, and said, “Do not practice it if it’s too difficult then. What’s the rush?”
“You’ve always been undisciplined.” Han Ling hadn’t lost her mind. She still remembered Han Fen. “You’d have died long ago if the Master Commander didn’t protect you.”
Han Fen revealed a silly smile. “I am the Master Commander’s ‘sycophant’.” This was a new word that she learned in the Norland and had always regarded it as a positive description.
Han Ling shook her head. “No, I’m so close. I have to practice harder.” She looked at the Dragon King and said, “I heard that you also know the Waning Moon Swordsmanship and that you are only a little weaker than the Master Commander?”
“The Death Sutra Swordsmanship,” Gu Shenwei corrected. “Your Master Commander learned it from me.”
“It doesn’t matter who learned it from whom. Comprehension is more important in practicing one’s swordsmanship. Junior practitioners might not be any poorer than senior practitioners. As long as I kill enough people, I can become invincible.”
The Death Sutra Swordsmanship had to be improved through actual fights, especially at the initial stage of the practice. Each kill would be a great help, but Gu Shenwei didn’t understand why Wild Horse had let his own men kill each other. He also didn’t understand why Lotus had indulged them.
“You’re practicing it in the wrong way,” he said, feeling like he was lecturing a little child. “The swordsmanship will backfire if you kill too many people in a short time. It’s no difference from suicide.”
“So what?” Han Ling’s eyes gleamed with madness. “The living suffer in grief, the dead settle in peace. To be invincible for an instant, to be destroyed in an instant. Isn’t it the best way to die…”
Han Ling seemed like she was possessed. Staring blankly at the sword in her hand, she suddenly dashed forward and struck at the bodyguard who was standing against the wall.
The bodyguard had been on alert, but the attack had come so suddenly and so unexpectedly that he still felt unprepared. But he did not flinch from it. Instead, he swung his narrow saber to take the offensive, using the same desperate move.
The sword techniques of the Death Sutra were purely offensive. The sword wielder had to believe that their sword was faster than the enemy. Without this almost fanatical faith, the practitioner wouldn’t ever cross the threshold of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship.
Han Ling had crossed the threshold. For the disciples of the Waning Moon Hall, it was always easier to ignore their own life and death than for ordinary people.
The narrow saber and the sword were about to hit their targets when a third weapon joined in.
In Gu Shenwei’s eyes, Han Ling’s swordsmanship was at the entry-level. After watching the figures on the stone chamber wall at Golden Roc Castle, Gu Shenwei had a much more accurate judgment about the moves of the Death Sutra Swordsmanship. He had already acted when Han Ling first showed signs of launching an attack.
The narrow saber and the long sword broke at the same time, leaving only the Five Peaks Saber in the air.
The bodyguard immediately retreated to one side, staying more than ten steps away from everyone.
This, however, was a big blow for Han Ling. She had advanced far in her swordsmanship, but still had no experience and skill in reducing the effects of a backfire.
As she held the broken sword, she took another step forward as if she wanted to turn the offensive to the Dragon King. However, as soon as her right foot landed on the ground, she spat out a mouthful of blood and could no longer hold her sword. Leaning against the wall, her body was shaking uncontrollably as if she was about to fall.
Han Fen rushed over to hold her. “Take it easy. Do not spit out blood. The Dragon King is very formidable. It’s not humiliating to be defeated by him.”
Gu Shenwei knew what the problem was. He put his hand on Han Ling’s back and transferred a strand of pure Sumeru Mustard internal Qi into her body.
Moments later, Han Ling became able to stand up and stopped spitting blood. Her face was as pale as paper, but her eyes seemed more normal. “I… I lost. I can never master the Waning Moon Swordsmanship.”
“Hmm, you will never master it.” Gu Shenwei knew that he would never give her any illusory hope. “The swordsmanship manual that you learned is incomplete and the way you practice it is also flawed. You’ve gone astray. How could you master it like this?”
“But the Master Commander …”
“Did she teach you the sword techniques herself?”
“No, it was Wild Horse.”
“Wild Horse is a bad guy.” Han Fen snorted as she said, “He gave out a fake order under the Master Commander’s name.”
“But the Master Commander has never denied it.” Han Ling’s mind was growing clearer.
“Perhaps she’s caught in a dilemma. Tell me, what is everyone doing? Where’s the Master Commander?”
Han Ling looked at the Dragon King but did not open her mouth. Han Fen urged, “Come on, the Dragon King is here to help the Master Commander. Let’s go and destroy Wild Horse together.”
“Everyone is practicing the swordsmanship. I don’t know where the Master Commander is. Only the last person who survives can see her.”
“Practicing the swordsmanship? Practicing the swordsmanship that you just displayed?” Han Fen asked in surprise.
“Hmm, it was an order of the Master Commander… No, it was Wild Horse’s order. He said that we had made some initial accomplishments in our swordsmanship and that it was no use to kill the sabersmen of Jade City anymore, and that we could only verify and improve by killing each other. Since yesterday, or was it the day before yesterday, we have been fighting each other. I’ve killed eleven people. Ah… What have I done? Three of those eleven were disciples of the Waning Moon Hall.”
“And you guys obeyed his order?” Han Fen was not only surprised but even angry.
“Everyone thought that it was an order from the Master Commander, and… and once I started practicing the Waning Moon Swordsmanship, it became hard to stop. The thought of improving my swordsmanship through each kill, I …”
Gu Shenwei could understand Han Ling’s feelings because he and Lotus had had similar experiences. It was their fear and vigilance of Qi deviation that had prevented them from sinking deeper and deeper into this erroneous quagmire. “No one told you the consequences of rapidly improving this the sword techniques?”
“No. Wild Horse seemed to have mentioned that it may backfire, but he didn’t explain it in detail. I always thought that it was a beautiful way to die.”
“Is it more beautiful than being cut into pieces?” Han Fen defiantly asked.
The Waning Moon Hall disciples’ attitudes towards death were different from normal people’s. Gu Shenwei had no intentions of dwelling on this. “What about Wild Horse? Where is he?”
“The last time I saw him was in Mid-lake Hall. He killed the most and killed almost everyone he met. Everyone was avoiding him.”
“Bring me there.”
Han Ling nodded. Upon seeing that Han Fen was about to grab the torch on the wall, she anxiously said, “No light. That will attract countless sneak attacks.”
With Han Ling leading the way, the three of them walked towards the dark corridor. The surviving guard threw his broken narrow saber away and followed along, still keeping a proper distance from the three. No one asked him why or drove him away.
After merging back into the darkness, he quickened his pace and shortened the distance between him and the people in the front. With his years of training and instinct, he could feel their presence ahead.
Han Ling obviously knew the underground palace well and walked very fast. She made many turns but never hesitated. She also knew where the swordsmanship practitioners might hide and tried her best to avoid them in advance.
It was a surprisingly smooth journey, and it was not until they saw the solitary lamp that they understood why.
This lamplight was like a delicious bait, luring the swordsmen from all sides to bite at the hook.
