Chapter 241: Caught
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
After losing his Internal Strength, Gu Shenwei realized that he couldn’t control his strength. Except for his swordcraft practices with Shangguan Ru, he didn’t enter into a fight with another person.
Gu Shenwei got knocked over by Slave Xin and could not do anything except to clasp onto Slave Xin’s ankle. He made Slave Xin fall and thus, both of them started fighting. Luo Ningcha tried to separate the two by using a paperweight to hit them, but she missed. She was breathless as she had overexerted herself and had nearly fell over. She was furious as she lifted up the paperweight and aimed for Slave Xin from among the two combatants.
Gu Shenwei finally realized the struggles of the weak. Even if he had a strong killing desire, he couldn’t help much. He had to squeeze every ounce of strength out of his body to block one of Slave Xin’s desperate attacks. After rolling around on the ground for a while, he was finally able to get on top of Slave Xin with both of his hands strangling Slave Huan’s neck. Slave Huan’s face turned red with his eyes bulged and veins swollen.
Gu Shenwei did not want to kill Slave Xin in this manner. He was prepared to interrogate Slave Xin. In particular, he wanted to know what Slave Xin meant when he said, “You’re from the Gu Family.” Had he been exposed or was Slave Xin pointing out that Slave Huan was the son of the Gu Family’s old servant, Yang Zheng?
However, Slave Xin was struggling hard and was trying to call for help. As the Supreme King’s killers were in the outer court, Gu Shenwei didn’t want them to be alerted.
Blood rushed to his head losing all sense of reason, only thinking that his demise was inevitable if he doesn’t kill the person in front of his eyes and put all his strength into his hands and squeezed.
The process of killing seemed to take a long time without the use of his Internal Strength and the swordcraft from the Death Scriptures. Gu Shenwei was feeling exhausted and he hoped for this to end quickly, but Slave Xin was still struggling as he ripped apart Gu Shenwei’s clothes.
Boom!
A copper incense burner smashed onto Slave Xin’s head, and fresh blood oozed out. He was no longer struggling.
Gu Shenwei was out of breath as he released his grip and sat on the ground. If he had another choice, he would rather experience qigong deviation than to dispel his Internal Strength.
He was also surprised by Luo Ningcha. Usually, she could only throw some cups and pots, but this time, she was able to lift up a heavy incense burner.
Luo Ningcha was pale and asked blankly, “Is he dead?” She was definitely not used to killing someone personally.
“Yes.”
Both of them were saying a few words when someone outside asked, “Mistress, do you need anything?”
“No… ” Luo Ningcha spat out in a panic. Gu Shenwei interrupted, “A slave was moving the incense burner, but it fell onto him. Come in and carry him away.”
Luo Ningcha quickly withdrew behind the screen. Gu Shenwei hurriedly put on his robes and opened the door.
Two killers entered and saw that the incense burner had landed on someone’s head. They did not make a fuss as they understood that such an incident could happen. “Mistress was not startled, wasn’t she?”
“Take this clumsy guy away. Slave Huan, call the maid over and get her to clean this mess up.”
The two killers carried the corpse and the incense burner away while Gu Shenwei went to the front yard to call for the maid. Then, he ran back to Kun Yard.
He thought he had concealed himself well and that it was safe within the Stone Castle. Unfortunately, it seemed that Shen Liang had figured out his background. However, he hadn’t made any actions as he wanted to maximize his gains.
After calming down, he guessed that Slave Xin probably did not know the name ‘Gu Shenwei.’ Luo Ningcha knew that he was posing as Yang Zheng’s son. She probably revealed this information on accident and Slave Xin had heard about it.
The need to escape had never been so urgent. Gu Shenwei was helpless due to the temporary loss of his Internal Energy, and there was nowhere to run.
Even after the time for a column of incense to burn out had elapsed, Slave Huan had yet to regulate his breathing. Maid Lotus arrived. She pushed open the doors a little bit and slid in. She was wearing her killer’s outfit.
Gu Shenwei didn’t turn the lights on. He knew that it was Maid Lotus just by his feelings.
“There are people monitoring you. I think the people from Heart Cleansing Yard will come for you soon.”
Gu Shenwei was prepared for this.
Currently, there were only two people who could save him. The first person was Luo Ningcha. Even though both of them did not have a close relations.h.i.+p, they knew many of each other’s secrets. Hence, they had to “trust” each other. The second person was Shangguan Ru. That simple and naive girl from the Stone Castle was his most reliable talisman.
“Go and find the Tenth Young Master,” Gu Shenwei said to Maid Lotus. He had made his final decision. Luo Ningcha was too unpredictable. Even though she could help him, she might silence him midway.
Maid Lotus nodded and quickly departed. She had already abandoned her post when she met with Slave Huan. If she wanted to meet the Tenth Young Master at the Inner Residence, she had to sneak in while avoiding the night watchmen. Even though she would be committing a major crime, she did not utter a word and complied with Slave Huan’s request.
News of Slave Xin’s death had reached Shen Liang. ‘Would Heart Cleansing Yard’s blademaster continue to wait or take action?’ Gu Shenwei wondered. As he was wondering about it, the answer came.
Two masked men, who were dressed in black, came straight in. Gu Shenwei realized that these two weren’t the torturers in yellow belts. They were killers in red belts. Things were not going the way he wanted.
One man in black guarded the entrance, while the other moved towards Slave Huan.
“What is going on?” Gu Shenwei asked calmly. He pretended that he was unaware of what was happening.
The man did not speak. He merely raised his right hand and slapped Slave Huan’s neck. The power exceeded Gu Shenwei’s current strength. He saw it coming and thought of how to dodge the attack, but he could not react in time because his body was as slow as a snail.
Gu Shenwei fainted. Before he lost his consciousness, his last thought was that, if he had a choice, he would rather die than to dispel his Internal Strength.
When he opened his eyes again, he realized that his hands and feet were tied to a chair. There was a small lamp on a table beside him, which was illuminating a small circle around him. He soon realized that he was in an ordinary stone house, instead of the torture chamber within the Heart Cleansing Yard.
There were other people in the room. They were standing in the dark and were watching the killer who was tied up.
Gu Shenwei recognized one of them but did not know whether he should feign ignorance or be straightforward. Thus, he called out ambiguously, “Blademaster Shen.”
“Yang Huan,” Shen Liang called out. Every word sounded short, yet forceful as though this name belonged to someone famous. However, this was the first time that Shen Liang met the owner of this name.
Gu Shenwei was in a disadvantageous position, so he didn’t make any sound and allowed the other party to make the first move.
“A small killer…” Shen Liang continued with traces of admiration in his voice, “can cause so much trouble in the Stone Castle right under his master’s nose and not give yourself away. You have made this Heart Cleansing Yard’s blademaster lose face.”
“Blademaster Shen would be flattering me if you are talking about me.”
“No, no,” Shen Liang said. He shook his head while walking out from the darkness. He went up to Slave Huan and observed Slave Huan’s facial expressions carefully. “It was no flattery. I know about everything that you’ve done. You shouldn’t have killed Slave Xin. You could have concealed yourself for a while longer if he were still around.”
Gu Shenwei looked directly into Shen Liang’s eyes and revealed a sarcastic smile. If Shen Liang knew everything, he wouldn’t have bothered to kidnap Gu Shenwei. Instead, he would’ve brought Gu Shenwei to the Supreme King or had him killed already.
Shen Liang was not irritated by the smile. He straightened himself up and said, as though he was mumbling, “Yang Huan, son of the old servant, Yang Zheng, of the Gu Family from the Central Plains, painstakingly followed the Eighth Young Mistress into the Stone Castle, and then followed many different masters, sowed dissensions, and killed many people. The Golden Roc Fort’s influence is far-reaching, which ranges from the deserts to the Snow Mountains, but you crawled into its heart like a small bug.
Because of the death of the killer Han s.h.i.+qi, Gu Shenwei and other youths were tortured in the Heart Cleansing Yard three years ago. Since then, he learned that, in order to hide greater secrets, he had to admit to some less essential secrets. Therefore, he appeared slightly fl.u.s.tered, turned his head and said, “My father’s name is not Yang Zheng.”
This was the only truth that Gu Shenwei had revealed all evening, but Shen Liang did not understand the true meaning behind it. Shen Liang sneered, “You have taken much revenge. Unfortunately, you haven’t taken revenge on the Eight Young Master as he is out of your reach. You even killed Wei Lingmiao so that you could push all the blame on him, right?”
What Shen Liang knew was all superficial; thus Gu Shenwei felt slightly calmer.
“After returning to the city, you sowed discord between the Governor and the Meng family, hoping to create chaos in Jade City so that you could kill more people in the midst of the chaos. Yang Huan, you are too ambitious. You have defeated yourself, instead of your enemies.”
“It seems like Blademaster Shen wants to be my teacher. You talk so much.”
Shen Liang was not concerned with Slave Huan’s sarcasm. Instead, he laughed and said, “What, am I not qualified to be your teacher? I have sufficient evidence to have condemn you to death.”
“Please continue your commentary. Let me see if there are any loopholes within these ‘ambitions."”
“It’s such a pity that I am not a very patient teacher. Let’s summarize. You are a smart kid, who hides behind the Tenth Young Master. Firstly, you gained her trust. You took advantage of this to gradually bring her under your control. You used her name to kill the other young masters of the Shangguan family. I know all of this, but I want the details. I hope you can tell me to what extent had the Tenth Young Master knew about your plan.”
“It’s better for you to ask the Tenth Young Master directly,” Gu Shenwei answered. He knew that his confession would cost Shangguan Ru her life and she was his last hope. Luo Ningcha was like a piece of hot yam. One might incur the wrath of the Lord if one were to offend her. Therefore, no one dared to offend her.
“It doesn’t matter. Everyone is the same. Initially, they don’t want to speak, but soon they will talk incessantly. You’ll have to restrain yourself then and not say any nonsense. I only want to know about the details regarding the Tenth Young Master.”
Shen Liang retreated to the entrance and knocked twice. A short and thin man walked in. His face was wrinkled and dried, and he looked like a talking monkey.
The ‘monkey’ was carrying a parcel under his arms. He bowed at Shen Liang when he entered the room.
“I’m leaving this person to you.” Shen Liang turned back and said to the killer, “This is ridiculous. I can’t stand the sight of a b.l.o.o.d.y scene, so I’ll be leaving.”
The ‘monkey’ bowed with great respect as he sent the Lord Blademaster off. He then turned around. He still had that charming smile on his face as he placed the parcel down.
“A killer,” he said while tearing the prisoner’s clothes apart. He saw the scars all over Gu Shenwei’s body and nodded with satisfaction. “You are definitely different from ordinary people. You can tolerate more excruciating pains, which is exactly my favorite type of person. I don’t know how to kill people as that’s not my expertise. But, torturing is a different story. To date, no one has died in my hands.”
“I hope your torturing techniques are not as annoying as you are.”
Gu Shenwei had to tolerate the torture. He hoped that Maid Lotus and Shangguan Ru could find this place quickly.