Editor: Nyxnox
Chapter 193 Raiding the Treasures
Immortal Peng was dead, but the consequences of his death were something no one had expected. Perhaps no one wanted to avenge him, but everyone was concerned about the "truth" behind the immortal"s death and no one believed that the killer"s move was made on the spur of the moment. They all seemed to have personally "seen" the immortal"s treasures.
The news spread by mouth as fast as wildfire, and also as strangely and unpredictably. During the process, the guesses became hearsay, and hearsay became rumours, until eventually everyone believed it.
"Treasures of the immortal?" The eyes of the siblings of the Xu family lit up at once.
"Right, I"ve robbed all of the immortal"s treasures, and can kill even more deftly than ever," Gu Shenwei said with a malicious tone.
The siblings immediately shut up, not daring to speak again.
Gu Shenwei didn"t like the situation, because once again he was in danger for inexplicable reasons without even knowing who the enemy was. He thought of his Master Tie Hanfeng"s lesson again and realized that he had killed Immortal Peng without knowing much about his "connections", which was a serious mistake, as it was not "safe" enough.
"Tenth Gongzi went to the castle to explain and said it was her idea." Lotus felt that the news she had brought was overinterpreted. "Only ignorant people believe this rumour. We just need to kill several more people."
Lotus"s words became true. That night, there were eleven people who died in the brothel, but only the first one was killed by Gu Shenwei.
Just while they were talking, a heavy thudding noise came from the second floor. It seemed that something had fallen.
Xu Yanwei grasped at her heart and looked up in horror at her bedroom, thankful that she wasn"t there.
Gu Shenwei nodded at Lotus before he quietly walked upstairs. Lotus drew out her narrow sabre and guarded downstairs.
Gu Shenwei was just halfway there when a corpse was thrown out of the bedroom, landing softly against the railing. Xu Yanwei nearly fainted with fear, and she turned around to tightly hold onto her brother"s shoulder. Xu Xiaoyi was so frightened that his body huddled into a ball, but he was also curious as to who the dead man was, so his eyes popped open.
Gu Shenwei returned. "Someone is guarding the upstairs."
"Someone sent by Tenth Gongzi?" Xu Yanwei asked expectantly, but got no answer.
The two killers worked separately. Gu Shenwei sat in a chair and placed his narrow sabre horizontally on his knee, his sword leaning against his leg. He could use his swordsmanship openly now with the simple explanation that he had learnt it from Immortal Peng, but he still brought the two weapons with him out of habit.
Lotus hid herself in the shadows, and to the siblings of the Xu family it was as if they had only looked away for a moment before the female killer had disappeared.
The one upstairs was an expert and was willing to work for the killer though he didn"t like to talk. Ten corpses were thrown out one after another before dawn and piled together, higher than the railing.
Almost none of the dead had been able to say even a word before their death; only one had managed to cry out "Ahh, it"s you!" before he died.
Usually the men who walked out of Xu Yanwei"s bedroom were always content, and the fact that people were flying out horizontally and no longer moving afterwards was like an insult to her. She couldn"t bear it any more and shouted, "Who"s up there, come out!"
No one came out or answered.
Suddenly a knocking sound came from the door. Someone actually thought of going through the front door, and Xu Yanwei couldn"t help but be deeply moved by this. But soon the bad att.i.tude of the person outside made her unhappy.
"Open the door, open the door for me, you motherf.u.c.ker. I saw the other man going upstairs. Are you trying to trick me, b.i.t.c.h? I"ll crush you to death with my silver.
"Why did he come back?" Xu Yanwei really hoped that everything was a nightmare and all the problems could be solved when she opened her eyes.
Neither the brother nor the sister dared to open the door. Gu Shenwei went to the door with the sword in his hand, and listened for a while before he unlatched the door.
The door immediately burst open, and an obviously drunk crowd stumbled inside.
"You said you wouldn"t take any guests today, isn"t this one your guest? Ehh, it"s you?" Guan Houlin wanted to straighten himself up, but bent back and tilted his head instead, like a statue that was about to collapse.
"I"m the owner of this place."
"Oh, yes, I"ve heard that. Well … Your b.i.t.c.h is so outrageous. Instead of treating a lord with money, she let the other men jump to the second floor one after another. You, do you look down on me or the ninth young lord?"
"There are no other men here."
"Do not lie to me."
"We"ve seen it, you can"t fool us." The sabremen blocking the door added.
Guan Houlin drew the teenager to the side and tried to walk upstairs to try to catch the adultery in the act. He was so obsessed with it that he actually didn"t notice Xu Yanwei, who was standing in the corner. As he walked up the stairs, his giant body almost shook up the whole building.
"Come out, smelly b.i.t.c.h. I"ll let you know who"s the big lord, today I …" Guan Houlin"s words were half spoken before he stood stiffly on the stairs, as if his lord Shangguan Fei had suddenly shown up in front of him.
"Brother Guan, what happened?" The sabremen all went inside and looked upstairs to see what the pile of stuff was.
Guan Houlin took one more step up and craned his neck. After making sure that he had seen it clearly, he suddenly came to most of his senses and realized that this was a brothel run by the killer and the teenager downstairs was a tough guy who killed without mercy.
Guan Houlin turned around and slowly walked down the stairs, walking steadily and not swaying this time. He walked up to the killer and coughed, "Sorry, I"ve drunk too much. Say h.e.l.lo for me to Tenth Gongzi."
Guan Houlin opened his arm and pushed the sabremen out as if he was driving away a brood of chickens. He even bowed slightly to the teenager inside before he closed the door himself.
The twins of the Shangguan family had kept the semblance of peace. This was the first time in months that Guan Houlin had felt afraid of the Kun Society"s killer.
It was almost dawn when Gu Shenwei said to the upstairs, "Come out, let"s settle the matter."
The man upstairs hesitated for a while before walking out of the bedroom and stood by the pile of corpses with a sword in his hand.
"Xiao Chu, it"s you!" Xu Xiaoyi jumped excitedly. "You"re not here to kill me, you"re here to protect me, aren"t you?"
This was the illusion Xu Xiaoyi had in his mind. He would weep tears of joy if it were true.
"No, I"m here to kill you. The one I protected was him, as I can"t let anyone kill him."
Xu Xiaoyi felt both disappointed and pained. Puzzled, he said, "He"s a killer, he will kill you."
"Then that"s better. That"s how the swordsmanship is practised, but it"s still a bit too early to kill me."
Xu Xiaoyi was completely confused now. He didn"t get what Chu Nanping had said. He really wanted to make friends with Chu Nanping and didn"t expect for it to end up like this. He couldn"t help but feel sadness well up from deep inside and collapsed onto the ground, wailing.
"This isn"t true. Why would you kill me? I was good to you and I never offended you. We are good friends."
Chu Nanping slightly frowned, and then patiently explained, "We"re good friends, that"s why I want to kill you. Only by doing this can I sever my feelings and reach the fifth level. This is how the emotionless swordsmanship is practised."
Xu Xiaoyi cried even harder.
Amongst all of Immortal Peng"s disciples, Chu Nanping was the youngest in age and the simplest in mind, so he was influenced the most.
Gu Shenwei was inexperienced in persuading people, but he was good at conspiring and killing. And to Chu Nanping, the latter seemed to be a simpler and more effective choice.
"I can"t let you kill him, so I have to kill you now."
Chu Nanping shook his head like he used to and patiently explained to his dual pract.i.tioner. "It"s useless to kill me right now. You have to wait till the seventh level. Then we"ll have a life and death fight."
"I quit and will no longer practise the so-called emotionless swordsmanship, just like what Ye Silang did."
Chu Nanping"s lips were tightly sealed like a child who hadn"t got what he liked. His behaviour was actually in line with his age now. "You will change your mind."
Gu Shenwei held his sword hilt. He didn"t want to kill this child. There was no animosity between the two of them. Although he had killed Chu Yangjun and Immortal Peng, Chu Nanping was an emotionless person and didn"t even hate him.
Chu Nanping perhaps was not as emotionless as the killer thought. The child upstairs thought for a while and suddenly wore a happy smile, as if he had finally abandoned a heavy burden. "Okay, I don"t have to kill Xiaoyi now. Xiaoyi, I"ll come to play with you tonight."
Chu Nanping went back to the bedroom and left quietly.
Xu Xiaoyi stopped crying but became more confused at heart. "He, what does he want?"
Gu Shenwei also didn"t know whether it was right or wrong to not kill Chu Nanping. "He wants to be friends with you again."
"f.u.c.k, I"d be the dumbest fool in the world if I treated him as my friend again."
"You are a fool," Xu Yanwei snapped. The night was finally over. Since her brother wasn"t in danger for the time being, she had to send the two killers away as soon as possible. "Lord Huan, you"ve been overworked all night, so you should go home and take a rest. I"ll take care of Xiaoyi and prevent him from meeting with that child again."
Gu Shenwei wore his cloak and took a glance at upstairs. Lotus walked out from behind the corpses. She had just stood near Chu Nanping and could kill him with a single blow. The "emotionless" child didn"t know he was on the verge of death.
The corpses were left to the siblings of the Xu family. The Jade City was full of porters who worked as long as they were paid and never asked questions. As for whether this would affect the business of the brothel, Gu Shenwei didn"t care at all.
"What now?" Lotus asked as they walked on the cold street.
"I have to go back to City View Alley." This was the place Gu Shenwei was most unwilling to return. "Only the Essence Pavilion can prove that I didn"t steal any treasures and I have to find out who"s the ninth young lord"s new lover."
City View Alley wasn"t the only place that had boy toys in Southern Jade City, but was the place that had the most. Gu Shenwei decided to start investigating from there. This was the most feasible method to lure Shangguan Fei out of Northern Jade City.
Lotus went with him this time. The two took a detour around the peach grove before they jumped onto the high wall behind the Essence Pavilion, one on the left and one on the right to alert each other.
There was no change in the Essence Pavilion. Through the window, Gu Shenwei could even see that a group of ugly people were still drinking tea as usual.
Amongst the "treasure" raiders last night, there were no disciples of the Essence Pavilion. Gu Shenwei thought that they probably had woken up.
The window on the third floor was pushed open, revealing a hideous face. "There you are."
Gu Shenwei had an ominous feeling. Immortal Peng was dead, but these weirdos still talked mystically like Chu Nanping, who were still immersed in the illusion of the Essence of Perceiving Pa.s.sion and its so-called sixty-four training methods.
"I am here."
"Immortal Peng asked you to come upstairs." The hideous face talked casually and vanished as he finished, leaving the window open.