Chapter 262: Beard
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Xu Xiaoyi tried his best to control his expression. After several years of arduous training and hard work in Shu-lik, he consciously trained himself to contain his feelings. But he was always like invisible to Brother Huan, thus he was very upset and decided to try saying, “There’s someone else here that wants to see you, guess who?”
This time his intuition did not help. Gu Shenwei thought that it would be Shangguan Tian at first, but when he saw Xu Xiaoyi’s tense face with great surprise concealed; he changed his mind and thought about it again. “Moyang.”
The surprise in Xu Xiaoyi’s heart spilled and he shook his head saying, “Nothing can hide from you. If you run the business, how much more money will we make?”
Doing business and reading people’s minds were not the same. Letting Gu Shenwei manage their money would cause them to lose even their investments.
He had already vaguely understood Moyang’s intentions, but he still went to a manor outside the city under the invitation. He decided to visit the biggest obstacle on the way to persuade the King of Shu-lik.
Moyang looked old and weak, and he was not very enthusiastic when he saw the Dragon King. He nodded slightly and didn’t even stand up. The “Chief of the Dragons and Leader of the Five Peaks” was just a bandit chieftain of the Snow Mountain Gang. “Do you know why I am looking for you for?” said Moyang.
Gu Shenwei shook his head, did not sit down, and distanced himself from the tyrannical old man. No one dared to see a killer so rashly in Jade City. In the Shu-lik country, an official who did not even practice kung fu treated the killer as any other random macheteman. He not only bravely met the killer alone, but also in a disdainful manner.
Which world was more normal, Gu Shenwei was a bit unclear.
“Everyone says you are a smart person.” Moyang took a sip of tea and said with his eyes dropped.
“Smart people don’t guess other people’s minds,” Gu Shenwei said with his hand on the hilt.
“Well, yes, I have something to say. The talkative scholar you hired may be able to persuade His Majesty, but as long as I am here, you will never reach your goals. As for the reasons, I dare to say that it has nothing to do with the situation in the Western Region and the national security. This is simply a personal revenge. My favorite third son died in the hands of the Snow Mountain Gang people. For this, I have vowed I’ll slaughter these savages, regardless of men, women, or children. Unfortunately, no one in Shu-lik is willing to enter the Great Snowmountain. Now, you have helped me a lot; you unified the Snow Mountain Gang and led them to challenge the Shu-lik country. You gave me the once in a lifetime chance to watch all of you perish,” Moyang said as his tone was getting higher and higher, and in the end, it was almost as if he was cursing in anger.
.
“There’s no need to find me if you just want to say these,” said Gu Shenwei.
“I hope that there is only this,” Moyang said while suppressing his voice. The following words were obviously contrary to his original intention, so he was quite reluctant to say, “Time changes everything. The situation is different now, and I can’t live like this holding onto what happened years ago. Right now, I’ll give you a chance: Agree, and I will move aside, letting that scholar of yours persuade His Majesty. Disagree, and I will deploy another plan, absolutely better than yours that even His Majesty would not refuse. The life and death of Great Snowmountain depend on your choice.”
“Agreeing seems to be my only choice.”
“Yes,” Moyang answered directly. He was holding the lifeline of the Dragon King. He believed that he had the advantage and did not need unnecessary compromises.
“Even so, I have to know what your ‘other plan’ is.”
“I have a way to get half of the territory of Jade City.” Throwing out this sentence, Moyang picked up the teacup again. This was enough; there was no need for a killer to know everything.
It turned out that this was the price of Shangguan Tian’s borrowing troops from the Shu-lik. He was willing to become half of what the Supreme King was and even risked instant betrayal. Gu Shenwei thought that the King of Shu-lik would not so easily buy the plan. The attack on the Golden Roc Fortwould would cause intense reactions from the Central Plains and the Norlands. The Shu-lik could not withstand the pressure.
However, with Moyang the situation would be different. The land was always an irresistible temptation to monarchs, as elite weapons were to kung fu masters. Under the encouragement of the military counselor, King of Shu-lik was likely to make short-sighted choices.
“You want me to kill for you.”
“This is like what a smart person should say. I want you to kill someone for me, but this is simply a preemptive strike to protect myself. You understand what I mean.”
“The prime minister is now a supporter of Great Snowmountain.”
“Of course, you gave him 10,000 taels of gold. Everyone knows this. Even His Majesty has heard of it. Maybe you promised to kill for him. However, you have to understand one thing. The support of the prime minister is half-hearted. My opposition will spare no effort. Even if I toss away this old life of mine, I must stop your persuader. So, choose.”
Gu Shenwei was speechless, he was thinking about the connection between these three borrowed-blade murders.
“I hope that you are not thinking about how to kill me. Prime Minister s.h.i.+ has always had this idea.” Moyang misunderstood the silence of the killer. “Someone knows that you will come to see me. When I die, His Majesty will immediately send troops to Great Snowmountain and avenge me. I at least, am worth this much value in his heart.”
“I agree.” Gu Shenwei said as he held the three “only choices” in his hand, and this had just given him some leeway between his choices.
“The day after tomorrow is the second round of Breaking Obsession. Afterward, I will hold a private talk with His Majesty. If I haven’t received the news I’ve been waiting for then this whole operation will be canceled.”
Gu Shenwei did not say any farewells and directly left. As things became more and more complicated, he needed to find the military counselor for a consultation.
When he returned to his residence, it was completely dark. Gu Shenwei jumped over the wall into the courtyard. He had not properly gone through doors for many years.
Chu Nanping emerged from the shadows. He volunteered for the responsibility of guard duty and had never slacked off. “You’re back.”
“Yes.” Gu Shenwei waited for the young swordsman to speak, knowing that he would not appear to just say h.e.l.lo.
“You should care more about Tie Linglong.”
“What’s up with her?”
“She has been practicing with her saber a bit too much these days as if something is weighing on her mind.”
Gu Shenwei looked at Chu Nanping and wondered if he also had something weighing on his mind. “When it comes to concern, you should talk to Xu Xiaoyi. He takes your friends.h.i.+p deeply seriously.”
“No.” As soon as Xu Xiaoyi was mentioned, Chu Nanping’s voice became stern. “As long as he still has that beard, I won’t talk to him.”
“That beard…” Gu Shenwei’s words just left his mouth, and Chu Nanping had already disappeared.
This youth was a good swordsman but was not a good killer. Gu Shenwei was only using the contents from the Death Scripture to help him improve his swordcraft but had not taught him the whole scripture. This was one of the most important reasons: Chu Nanping claimed himself emotionless. In fact, he had rich emotions that countered to the fundamental concept of the Death Scripture.
The fallout between the two good friends stemmed from a joke made in last year.
Xu Xiaoyi drank a little too much then, and Chu Nanping also drank quite a lot. He had a strange principle: He thought that friends should advance together and retreat together. No matter what Xu Xiaoyi had ever said, he had always done it diligently, even if it was not something he liked. For example, drinking.
Chu Nanping’s cheeks became rosy red, looking more and more like a gorgeous girl, Xu Xiaoyi jokingly blurted out the following words that left his good friend furious. “Little Chu, all the prost.i.tutes from Pleasure Alley added together can’t even compare to one of your fingers. All women should feel inferior in your presence.”
Xu Xiaoyi grew up in a brothel. In his opinion, this was a sincere compliment, but he forgot that Chu Nanping was a swordsman.
Chu Nanping had already pulled out his long sword to almost complete the Emotionless Swordsmans.h.i.+p “killing friends and chopping affections.” Suddenly, he realized that he was acting in a fit of anger, which did not meet the original intentions of the swordcraft. Thus, he put away his sword and retorted with a cold remark. “Don’t you think yourself a man just because you wear a small mustache!”
The pair fell out because of this little thing. They had not said anything to each other over the past year. Xu Xiaoyi made apologies for a few times, but he strongly refused to take off his beard. This beard was meaningful to him. Taking it off was like taking off all his clothing.
Gu Shenwei decided not to meditate; this was a child’s play and he did not bother himself.
He came to the backyard and saw that Tie Linglong was dancing with her blade. The little girl had been practicing for three years, and her machete skills were already very different. She had also learned the Wayless Qigong, although fewer than that of Chu Nanping, with only four chapters. Moreover, she had never learned from the Death Scripture.
At the time Gu Shenwei saved the granddaughter of Tie Hanfeng, he thought that she would be a good young killer. However, it turned out that he was wrong. Tie Linglong’s heart was full of hate, and she could not control the power, just like now. Ever since entering Shu-lik City, she had been desperately working to practice the sword art, completely without a killer’s calmness.
Perhaps this was not a problem with Tie Linglong and Chu Nanping. Gu Shenwei thought that maybe it was his training method that was improper. He had not experienced the basic training of the Carvewood Academy. This missing segment could not be made up anyway, and it was more impossible to teach to others.
He did not ask Tie Linglong what went wrong; he did not even know how to phrase himself. In the killer’s opinion, being occasionally controlled by vengeful hatred might be a good thing.
Fang Wens.h.i.+ was anxiously waiting for the Dragon King. After hearing of the three borrowed-blade murder plans, he became extremely confused and said, “This… is such a coincidence.”
Gu Shenwei could not help but thought that if it was Zhang Ji, he would definitely be able to see through the hidden plots at once. “No, it’s probably not coincidental and actually logical.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you want to kill someone and don’t want to be exposed, there is only one way to do it and that is to put the blame on others. Hence, the ‘others’ would be better off having an adequate motive to kill.”
Fang Wens.h.i.+ was gradually realizing. He could see the world’s general picture, but he had never been qualified to partic.i.p.ate in a specific scheme. In this regard, he reacted slowly. “You are the Snow Mountain Dragon King, the enemy of Shu-lik. So, of course, Prime Minister s.h.i.+ would use you to murder to king; you are the killer Yang Huan, the sworn enemy of Golden Roc Fort, so of course Shangguan Hong would use you to kill his brother; you’ve sent Prime Minister s.h.i.+ heads and became enemies of him, that’s why Moyang use you to kill his rival. After each party achieves their goals, they will all put the blame on you. Even if anyone suspects otherwise, no one would discover anything.”
Gu Shenwei nodded. Great Snowmountain was still too weak, and the killer Yang Huan was just a small fish that Golden Roc Fort let slip through its net. Everyone thought he was disposable.
“What to do? We have to choose one, especially Prime Minister s.h.i.+ and Moyang, these two people’s requirements are opposites. However, both would benefit Great Snowmountain. It’s more or less good news.”
“I have all agreed.”
“What… what are you going to do?”
“Accomplish everyone’s goals and then achieve mine.”
Gu Shenwei had a partially organized plan in his mind. The core of a conspiracy was not whether it would succeed or fail, but who had the right to be in control. In that way, even if the conspiracy failed, the mastermind behind the scenes would benefit from it. Gu Shenwei had suffered from it before and had a deep understanding of this.
He wanted to seize back control.