Chapter 408: Abdication
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Someone had sneaked an attack from above, and within steps away, the fat chief was about to escape. Even if Gu Shenwei was fast enough, he could only make a choice between defending himself or nabbing the guy.
Placing his personal safety into the hands of Maid Lotus, he chose the latter instead.
Several steps away from Dragon King, Maid Lotus was standing at the door all along. The thought of joining the fight did not cross her mind until Dragon King made his decision – and before he even moved forward- she had already guessed his intentions and charged towards him with her sword in hand, just in time to face the killer from above.
The five Golden Roc killers initially planned to tackle Dragon King with four people while another would make a surprise attack from the top of the cave. Failing to find a suitable opportunity as the fight below ended too soon, the killer at the top took the risk and attempted to strike a blow.
As Maid Lotus swept past him and came beside Dragon King, behind her, the killer collapsed heavily onto the ground, dirtying the clean floor after all as blood flows profusely from his mouth and chest.
Gu Shenwei layed flat on the ground, gripping the fat chief’s wrist tightly. The wrist might seem dwarf-looking in comparison to the master’s body, however, it is actually two times wider than normal, and Gu Shenwei could only hold on to slightly more than half of the wrist with his hand.
He could withstand the weight but it was not easy to pull him up especially when the fat chief was struggling hard, unwilling to give in.
The movable door under the soft bedding uses an up-down mechanism, and as it was stuck at the fat chief’s b.u.m, it started making creaking sounds the more he struggled.
Unable to find a s.p.a.ce to rest her hand, Maid Lotus then pointed to the plump wrist of fat Chief’s with her sword and asked, “Do you want me to cut it off?”
Maid Lotus was merely scaring him. Of course, they could not just possibly keep a palm after going through so much to capture the prey. The fat chief was a clever man, but it was hard to think straight when he was hanging in midair. Upon hearing that, he quickly uttered: “Don’t cut it, don’t cut it. Hold on to me, I’ll come up.”
Gu Shenwei exerted strength and gradually pulled the fat chief up as he stopped struggling.
Internal Strength was practiced using both the Qi and Internal Breath, and although it had the effect of strengthening the body as well, it was still two separate matters when it comes to lifting weights by just using brute strength. Gu Shenwei was also tired out when the fat chief, weighing several hundreds of catties fell back to the ground. He secretly channeled his Internal Breath and ordered the fat chief to speak up.
The fat chief could only sit on the ground as the sleeping mat had fallen into the ground. As his eyes flickered between the two of them, he said, “What do you want me to say?”
“You will have to guess this yourself.”
Gu Shenwei held the Five Peaks Saber against the fat chief and stabbed half an inch into his st.u.r.dy chest. To normal people, it might cause quite a vital damage, but it was merely a slight p.r.i.c.kly sensation for the fat chief. Still, he was unable to withstand it and felt chills all over, “I will say, I will say.”
The fat chief wiped the sweat from his forehead, “But you have to promise not to kill me.”
“As long as there are no traitors from New Moon Hall in the Gulping Wind Gorge, I will not kill you.”
“They forced me to eat a lot of dubious pills, can Maid Lotus save me?”
“Yes, she can.”
“Uh, you can’t kill my sons and grandchildren either.”
Gu Shenwei poked the Five Peaks Saber further by another half an inch to answer his endless conditions.
The fat chief could no longer care about the safety of his children and grandchildren, so he quickly said, “These five people arrived this morning. They had already heard that Dragon King is here and wanted to set traps, I had no other choice but to agree.”
This was not what Gu Shenwei wanted to know particularly, so the saber still remained in the fat chief’s body.
The fat chief felt dizzy. For the first time, he knew that it was not pain but fear when being stabbed by a saber. It was a fear that he was unable to suppress. As though there exists another part of himself that was always well-hidden; it would appear and took control of the authority of his own body when it comes to life-and-death situations, demanding that he should save his life at all costs.
“New Moon Hall. Dragon King would like to know about New Moon Hall. There’s a total of 13 people, only Yan Er had been staying here all this while. Now that she was dead, there are still 12 remaining, and these people had only arrived within these two months. Around a month ago, it was reported that several tribes had discovered a country as heard from legends, and were about to fight against Dragon King for the rulers.h.i.+p. In fact, not a lot of people believed in this matter. Everybody at that time had a.s.sumed that Dragon King was already dead. But Yan Er took it seriously. She said that Dragon King won’t die so easily because there was a big trait… Maid Lotus was with you. So she gathered her fellow sisters and wanted to explore the mountains. Who would have known that the two of you had already arrived before they even started their chase.”
Gu Shenwei was able to guess this information as well, so he asked, “Where are they hiding now?”
“Jiuqu Cave, they seldom come out.”
“What about Guan Shang?”
“Yes, sometimes Guan Shang would come out and pretend to be my servant to observe Dragon King’s reaction. I forgot to mention, they put poison in Dragon King’s food and said that it will take about three to five days for the effect to show. Originally, Guan Shang mentioned that Dragon King had already walked into their trap, but after noticing Ming Zhen and Han Xuan missing, she dreadfully realized that both of you must have already came prepared. Therefore, they would need to think of another way. Just these five Golden Roc killers had arrived, so… it’s not my idea, actually. I really had no other choice. The lives of all my family lie in their hands…”
Gu Shenwei did not want to listen to his complaints, so he slightly used some strength on the saber to interrupt him. “Take us to Jiuqu Cave.”
“Yes, yes, I hope… no, no, Dragon King will surely be able to get rid of them at one go and save everybody from the young to old in the Gulping Wind Gorge from the devil’s claws…”
The fat chief was very good at acting, as he easily changed from a bold and generous demeanor to one that was fawning and flattery. After realizing that it did not gain any reactions from the two, he changed into a pragmatic demeanor and point to the trap door beside him. “You can go from here, it leads directly to the inside of the Jiuqu Cave. Sneak a surprise attack on them.”
“How many exits are there in Jiuqu Cave?”
“Three. There’s one at the front door, one here, and another on the cliff. That’s a secret exit and not a lot of people know about it.”
“Let’s go, come with me to get rid of the traitors of New Moon Hall. You and your son can live when all of them are dead.”
The fat chief used up all of his strength to lift up his bottom, before letting out a sigh. He said apologetically, “I, I can’t leave.”
After the fat chief was sitting on the ground again, Maid Lotus retreated back to the door to monitor the situation outside. Suddenly, she said, “They have escaped.”
Just when she finished talking, someone rushed into the hall and said, “Something bad has happened, something bad has happened…”
It was the fat chief’s butler. He was shocked upon entering and seeing the five corpses lying on the ground. He understood that something grave had happened here when he took a second look and realized his master was being held against with a weapon, sitting on the ground. “Uh, oh, this… I… chief, several young masters had suddenly pa.s.sed out, it’s as though… I will come back later.”
As the butler turned around, he was startled by Maid Lotus at the door and could only remain standing on the spot.
The fat chief was stunned, his mouth agape. He first looked at Dragon King before turning toward Maid Lotus, “How could…”
“They didn’t just faint. They are already dead. The traitors mixed poison into everybody’s food.”
The fat chief was overwhelmed in grief and indignation. Then he realized something serious and asked, “Does that mean I am poisoned as well?”
No one answered him.
The fat chief reached out to Dragon King, “Save me, I will give you half of my a.s.sets.”
Gu Shenwei kept his sword, then he turned to Maid Lotus and asked, “Is it too late?”
“The antidote is very precious, must we really waste it on him?” Maid Lotus played along with Dragon King’s threatening act.
Overwhelmed by fear to think logically, the fat chief said, “No, it’s not a waste, not a waste. I have a big purpose. There are a lot of traps in the Gulping Wind Gorge, and many treasures are hidden within it. I am the only one who knows all the details. I will tell you everything if you give me the antidote.”
Now that he was visibly frightened enough, Gu Shenwei made Maid Lotus watch over the fat chief and ordered the butler to bring over all the prominent figures in the clan, while he himself went to find Ha Chilie.
There were also four corpses lying inside the room. Three of the corpses, killed by Ha Chilie obviously, had fatal saber wounds. There was also a corpse bleeding from the mouth, this was the first person killed by the maid, Han Xuan.
Han Xuan looked pale. She kept staring at the corpse to watch out for it as if it could jump up again at any time.
As soon as Dragon King entered the room, Han Xuan launched an attack with all her might, as instructed by him.
Gu Shenwei avoided the attack gracefully and told the three of them to follow him.
Han Xuan recognized Dragon King and was hesitant to apologize, but he had already left. Ha Chilie and Miss Ming Zhen followed hurriedly, leaving her behind.
The traitors from New Moon Hall were ruthless. In order to not arouse suspicion, they had mixed the Falling Powder into many people’s food and there were around 20 to 30 people who were poisoned by it. Most of them were the descendants of the fat chief, several of whom had already died.
The fat chief was of a large stature, therefore his resistance toward the poison was stronger than the others and he was able to hold on much longer. Maid Lotus gave him half of the antidote. After eating, he began issuing orders to his people.
In recent days, there had been daily deaths in the Gulping Wind Gorge, and it was becoming increasingly fierce. Everybody was already utterly exhausted and in great fear. But none of that was as shocking as the words spewed by the fat chief.
“Ming Zhen didn’t die. She followed my instructions and pretended to be dead to trick the enemies. Sigh, though the enemies revealed their true colors, they still managed to escape and even poisoned many people.”
“I am old and can’t cope with these matters anymore. So I have decided to take a break. During this period, my grandson-in-law, Ha Chilie, will take over as the chief and handle all affairs. His marriage with Ming Zhen should also be held as soon as possible.”
Ha Chilie was just as surprised as everybody else. Only after he received a hint from Dragon King’s gaze did he came forward to accept the appointment.
Just Ha Chilie alone was difficult to suppress the Gulping Wind Gorge. Fortunately, in a few days’ time, the Great Snowmountain army led by Long Fanyun would arrive and all obstacles would be resolved.
Several matters were still pending, however, Gu Shenwei and Maid Lotus need to set off immediately. Not only would they need to pursue the escaped traitors from New Moon Hall, but they would also need to go to the An Kingdom, which was located at the north of Wushan, as it was the second obstacle for the Great Snowmountain army to return to the Western Region.
Several women were noticed by the guards in the village, and they divided themselves into three batches to leave the Gulping Wind Gorge. The direction that they headed to was also toward the An Kingdom.
Gu Shenwei asked for two of the best horses available. Ha Chilie was more familiar with the An Kingdom so he reminded Dragon King that some hundred miles away from the Gulping Wind Gorge lies a town that belonged to the An Kingdom, and horses could be exchanged at the courier station there.
Gu Shenwei put Ha Chilie in charge to fix things up in Gulping Wind Gorge since it was already in an awful mess. He left with Maid Lotus in the afternoon without stopping for breaks at all. When he entered the town that Ha Chilie spoke about, it was already past midnight and the horses were too tired to continue running.
All was quiet in the still of the night. The courier station was located outside the town and it was very easy to find. Gu Shenwei knocked at the door, but there was no response for a long time. So, both of them leaped onto the wall to take a peek inside.
Although there was no particular indication suggesting otherwise, however, the two of them were able to sense danger at the same time.