Chapter 236: Seven Chapters
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Gu Shenwei’s qigong deviation was proof that he was not involved in the a.s.sa.s.sination.
Gu Shenwei didn’t expect that the Supreme King had regained his Internal Strength two nights ago. He had no choice but to use all of his Internal Breath to counter the sudden slap.
His Dantian was nearly shattered. Fortunately, the Supreme King hadn’t fully recovered. Furthermore, the Supreme King wasn’t able to use all of his strength because it had happened so suddenly. Hence, Gu Shenwei wasn’t seriously injured. However, he lost much of his Internal Strength and his Peripheral Force was discharged from his Baihui and Xuanji acupoints. The rate of discharge gradually became faster and faster. By noon on the day after the a.s.sa.s.sination, Gu Shenwei could no longer control the force of the qigong deviation.
Barren Sect Managing Master Kang Wenhui had reminded Gu Shenwei that he would definitely die when both of the Peripheral Forces had completely discharged. He had no choice, but to dispel his Internal Strength and start practising Wayless Qigong.
Maid Lotus was the only one who knew the truth. While it appeared that the two killers were protecting Luo Ningcha, in fact, Maid Lotus was the only one protecting Gu Shenwei and Luo Ningcha.
There was an independent chapter in Wayless Book about the dispelling of Internal Strength . As both Shangguan Ru and Maid Lotus practised Golden Roc Fort Internal Strength, they do not need to go through this step and experience the excruciating pain.
When one dispelled his Internal Strength, one would have to endure excruciating pain, which was similar to having his bones ripped out from his body while still being alive.
For two consecutive nights, Gu Shenwei was dispelling his Internal Strength in a room in the backyard. Maid Lotus was guarding outside in order to prevent anyone from disturbing Gu Shenwei. They were afraid that Miss would have an errand for them as it was impossible to interrupt the process of dispelling Internal Strength.
Fortunately, there were ten killers and twenty machetemen guarding Luo Ningcha. Hence, Luo Ningcha was able to sleep well. As she was mindful of how others gossip about her, she didn’t allow the killers to stand on guard inside the house.
It took three days to dispel Internal Strength and, by the time Shen Liang came, Gu Shenwei had managed to dispel most of his Internal Strength. When the Heart Cleansing Yard Blademaster grabbed him, he seemed very weak and said, “Blademaster Shen. Please be patient. I may commit suicide a few days later.”
Shen Liang exerted too much force as he almost broke Slave Huan’s bone. He loosened his grip. The original plan was completely disrupted. “How long has it been?” he asked.
“About ten days.”
“Why didn’t you mention about it earlier?”
“I don’t want to trouble the Fort.”
“Do you think that just the two of you could cure qigong deviation?”
“We will try every method. I may even recover without any treatment.”
Shen Liang felt that Slave Huan was lying, but it was true that he lost his Internal Strength. It was unnecessary for a blademaster to mobilize his men for a killer. Shen Liang hoped that he could make use of Slave Huan to diminish Lady Meng’s influence, hence he wanted conclusive evidence. However, there was a loophole in the current evidence.
“Very good,” Shen Liang said, “Recuperate well. I think you’ll get better soon.”
Shen Liang left and didn’t reveal all of his information. He wanted to thoroughly investigate this matter.
Just when Gu Shenwei was relieved, a series of trouble came.
The news that Slave Huan was experiencing qigong deviation and losing Internal Strength had quickly spread out. Luo Ningcha was the first one who reacted. She said, “Oh my. I have allowed him to protect me. Is qigong deviation similar to being possessed?”
She still remembered the scenario of Slave Yao experiencing qigong deviation and was terrified. She didn’t meet Slave Huan. Instead, she got Maid Lotus to relay a message, saying that Slave Huan had to move out.
For Luo Ningcha, this action was considered to be extremely compa.s.sionate and generous. She still remembered their past friends.h.i.+p. Otherwise, she would have sent Slave Huan to Firewood Yard and let him die there.
Gu Shenwei complied and moved to East Castle. There were many small yards, which were specially made for killers to stay in. He wasn’t disappointed as he didn’t have much expectations in the first place.
Slave Xin was unexpectedly willing to leave with the killer. He said, “Miss had allowed me to serve Master Yang so I can’t abandon you.”
Gu Shenwei pretended to accept Slave Xin. Yet he was still on guard against the servant.
It wasn’t suitable to train in East Castle. A new batch of apprentices was enthusiastically practising for the annual compet.i.tion. Some were unconvinced by Slave Huan’s reputation so they viewed him as a compet.i.tor.
Maid Lotus was unable to help Gu Shenwei because she had to stay by Luo Ningcha’s side. Gu Shenwei’s progress was delayed by two days until Shangguan Ru came to help.
Shangguan Ru met Eighth Sister-in-law. As she wanted to take Slave Huan back, she said indirectly, “Maid Lotus will stay with you.”
Luo Ningcha wanted to send the “possessed” servant out. She almost agreed, but at the last moment, she vehemently rejected, “We will become a laughing stock if we are fighting over a killer. He can stay with me. I can lend him to you whenever Sister has a lack of manpower.”
The desperate situation and the newly learnt skills had once rendered Luo Ningcha in a state where she was unable to control her feelings. When the Supreme King made a visit and she became more confident, then that action could be used against her. She would feel insecure if she were to return Slave Huan back to Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Ru “borrowed” Slave Huan. Only both she and Maid Lotus knew what qigong deviation actually was.
Gu Shenwei moved to Kun Yard. Apart from Inner Residence, Kun Yard was where the Tenth Young Master resided at. It was very quiet and far away from the murderous new apprentices of East Castle.
The place was big. Gu Shenwei sent Slave Xin to another yard so he could live alone. Gu Shenwei managed to complete the third dissipation of Internal Strength, and then started to practice Wayless Qigong.
He originally wanted to kill the Supreme King and escape when Golden Roc Fort was in chaos. However, the Supreme King didn’t die. The escape plan was useless because it only took half a night to suppress the riot. Though it was dangerous, it was still much safer than being pursued.
There were seven chapters in the Wayless book. Gu Shenwei immediately noticed that the relations.h.i.+p between this number and Immortal Peng. Shangguan Ru must have revealed much of the contents to the dwarf in the past.
The Supreme King had never looked for Slave Huan ever since the time when his daughter had tried to interrupt him. It seemed that he became cold and indifferent after his powers had been restored. He was no longer saddened by the death of Immortal Peng and had lost his desire for revenge.
The dispelling of Internal Strength had an unexpected benefit. The two Peripheral Forces at Baihui and Xuanji acupoints were also dispelled. Even before he practised Wayless Qigong, he had recovered from the ailment, which had been troubling him for more than two years.
Gu Shenwei initially didn’t believe it. When Maid Lotus visited him and heard this news, she checked him by using her Internal Strength and discovered that both of his acupoints were empty. There were no hidden external forces in the acupoints anymore. She said with surprise, “I haven’t dispelled the last bit of force in my body.”
Even though Maid Lotus was surprised, she didn’t want to dispel Internal Strength, which was a drastic measure to treat qigong deviation. She would rather treat the deviation slowly through practicing Wayless Qigong.
They inspired each other in a manner similar to how both of them had practiced swordcraft in the past. She gave many useful reminders to Gu Shenwei during the initial few days.
The method of practicing Wayless Qigong was different from how one practiced other Internal Strength. For other Internal Strength, one could only progress to the next chapter after mastering the current chapter. However, for Wayless Qigong, one had to practice one chapter every day. After completing all seven chapters, one would start from the first chapter again. The cycle continued endlessly. The progress was dependent on one’s apt.i.tude and level of hard work as there was no such thing as the highest level.
The most peculiar thing was that it was acceptable to miss out on a few chapters. As long as one started from the first chapter, two chapters could form a cycle. Even though the training speed was naturally slower, it’s prowess wouldn’t be affected if one persisted for a sufficiently long period of time.
Gu Shenwei started from scratch. After more than ten days, he could only feel that his body became lighter, but his Dantian was still empty and there was no Internal Strength. But this matter couldn’t be rushed as it was a slow process.
After practicing seven chapters for the second time, Gu Shenwei realized a problem and asked, “Do you think that these seven chapters of Wayless Qigong feel incomplete?”
His words lit up Maid Lotus’s eyes. She had the same feeling and thought about it for a few days. She said, “Yes. However, I have copied down everything. The temple guard said it slowly and there were fifteen people checking against him. There was no mistake. Could there be another hidden chapter?”
“It is possible that Golden Roc Fort didn’t get the full copy.”
They discussed for a long time, but they still had no clue. Since it didn’t affect their practice, they placed the matter aside for now.
Gu Shenwei was rarely disturbed in Kun Yard. Shen Liang didn’t disappoint as he closed the a.s.sasination case. The Stone Castle’s past order and security were restored.
Second Young Master Shangguan Tian became the scapegoat for the events because there were many pieces of evidence which showed that Shangguan Tian was disgruntled. He bribed a master and secretly brought him into the Stone Castle. He didn’t admit that he was the mastermind of the a.s.sasination of the Lord. However, the masters who Shangguan Tian bribed couldn’t stand the torture and confessed that they were responsible for the a.s.sasination. Their targets included the Lord and Lady Meng.
This was sufficient. Shangguan Tian was imprisoned in a dungeon and most of his subordinates were executed. It appeared that another crisis was quickly resolved.
Gu Shenwei knew that it was an illusion. Shangguan Tian might have wanted to kill his father but the a.s.sasination of the Supreme King foiled his plan. Blademaster Shen Liang would probably know the truth and quickly dealt with the Second Young Master. On one hand, he could suppress the enemy and on the other hand, he could protect the reputation of Golden Roc Fort. It would be very shameful if he couldn’t find the mastermind of the riot.
Investigations had been going on secretly and many people, including Slave Huan, were being watched. Gu Shenwei ran into stalkers on several occasions whenever he went out with Shangguan Ru.
Shangguan Ru cared about the safety of Slave Huan so she visited him almost every day. When Gu Shenwei had made steady progress and had more free time, they started to wander around the fort just like what they did in the past.
They “invented” a new game. As they were familiar with the area, they would often “disappear” and suddenly appeared behind the stalkers to scare them. This game didn’t last long because there were no stalkers a few days later.
Gu Shenwei didn’t understand Shangguan Ru’s intentions. As they weren’t children anymore, they had lost the initial fun in wandering around the fort. Gradually, he realized that Shangguan Ru was trying to find traces of Master Yu. Whenever she went to a location, she would remember certain scenes and Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ would always be involved in it.
One day in August, Gu Shenwei followed Shangguan Ru to Giant Rock Cliff to reminisce about the past. They often came here over the past few days. This was a very secluded place in the past, however, it became less secluded after the arrow tower at Reincarnation Cliff was built. One could enjoy the un.o.bstructed view when one stood at the top of the cliff.
Fortunately, there were few people on duty at the arrow tower. Hence, they weren’t worried about being seen.
Recently, Gu Shenwei felt that Shangguan Ru was becoming more and more troubled. He thought that it was related to Shangguan Yus.h.i.+ so he rarely comforted her.
Today was no exception. Shangguan Ru stood at the edge of the cliff and looked into the distance while holding onto a giant stone. She didn’t speak for a long time. Suddenly, she turned around and gave him a mysterious smile. She was holding onto a few pieces of paper as she said, “This is for you.”
Gu Shenwei glanced at it and knew that it was the seventh chapter of Wayless Book. He asked, “Why did you have it?”
Luo Ningcha handed over the last plank. Both Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus kept it and didn’t give it to Lady Meng.
“It’s none of your business. A complet edition is better than an incomplete one. Well, you better keep it a secret.”
“Yes, I will.”
Gu Shenwei felt slightly guilty, but was then surprised. He didn’t read it closely, but after glancing over the first few sentences, he realized that the content was very different from the text on the planks.