Editor: Xu Xian
Chapter 082 Hire
G.o.dly Doctor Sun found out the patient’s secret. Gu Shenwei was startled, instinctively, he wanted to pull back his wrist and run away, but G.o.dly Doctor Sun was holding his wrist so tightly that he couldn"t move it at all.
Tie Hanfeng’s face was filled with confusion. “G.o.dly Doctor, he’s my disciple, not a spy.”
“Really? Then why does your disciple have the Da Huang Sect’s internal energy? Has Golden Roc Castle and Da Huang Sect abandoned their hatred and become friends now? If so, this is a good thing for the Western Regions.”
Tie Hanfeng’s smile didn’t falter. “Oh, about this matter, I a.s.sure you, G.o.dly Doctor, my disciple was plotted against by the enemy. This is why we came to ask G.o.dly Doctor to help cure it.”
Gu Shenwei was very surprised that Tie Hanfeng spoke for him, was it possible that he wanted to make a move when there was n.o.body else around?
G.o.dly Doctor Sun still hesitated. “Do you believe him?”
“Yes, I do,”
Tie Hanfeng"s answer was so definite that Gu Shenwei was suspicious he had some secret plans, like the last time someone took the blame for him. Xue Niang had admitted she taught Servant Yao internal energy, avoiding the interrogation of Servant Huan, but Xue Niang forced him to do many things later.
“Whatever, this is the castle"s business and has nothing to do with me. As for his internal injury, it’s a chronic ailment, no cure, go back and wait for death.”
Both the Master and disciple were completely dumbfounded and couldn"t understand what G.o.dly Doctor meant. Tie Hanfeng asked, “G.o.dly Doctor, it’s an ailment, so isn’t it easier to cure?”
G.o.dly Doctor Sun suddenly became angry for no reason. “Easy to cure an ailment? Look at my hair, there’s not much left, isn’t this an ailment? Cure it for me.”
Tie Hanfeng didn’t dare argue. He apologized and in low voice for a while before convincing the G.o.dly Doctor to calm down. Then he asked again, “G.o.dly Doctor, you’re the G.o.dly Doctor, are there any internal injuries you can’t fix?”
Although G.o.dly Doctor Sun wasn’t angry now, he was still aggressive when he said, “The one who claims he can fix everything definitely won"t be a G.o.dly doctor, but a liar, do not insult me.”
Tie Hanfeng apologized again. G.o.dly Doctor Sun looked at this silent teenager, this teenager’s expression was the same as many other killers he had seen before, but gloomier. “There are thousands of people like him in the castle, they die even faster than bugs, why do you want to save him?”
“He is my own disciple, I will always hope he can live a bit longer.”
G.o.dly Doctor Sun seemed to be convinced, but he didn’t continue checking the patient. He became lost in his thought instead, only opening his mouth again after a long while. “To tell you the truth, I indeed can’t cure him. Well, do you believe in Buddha or Bodhisattva?”
The last part was said towards Gu Shenwei. Gu Shenwei was still thinking about his Master’s weird behavior and was perplexed by G.o.dly Doctor’s question. “What?”
“Do you believe in Buddhism?”
“No.” Gu Shenwei thought for a while before answering.
Buddhism was popular in both the Central Plains and the Western Regions. Gu Shenwei’s mother was a religious follower of the Buddha and there were a lot of sutras and figures of the Buddha in his home. He grew up in this environment, but he was not a devout believer.
“Oh, then there’s no way out. It is said that the Four n.o.ble Truths Temple has a set of sutra scriptures that can expel the devil. If you can obtain it from the Buddhist Master, it may help a lot. But it probably only works after you believe in it, since you don’t believe, then forget about it.”
“Oh.” The Master and disciple said half-heartedly. Both of them didn’t believe in Buddhism, not to mention believe that a sutra could cure Qi deviation.
“Are there any other methods, G.o.dly Doctor?.” Gu Shenwei had already stopped caring about it, but Tie Hanfeng was unwilling to give up.
“There’re no other methods at Jade City. 1740 miles in the southwest, there’s a country called Fragrance. There are many talented people in that country and their medical skills are much better than mine. If there’s anyone who can cure this kid’s internal energy, other than the person who caused it, it should be these talented people. As far as I can tell, he still has 2 or 3 years left to live, it"s enough time for him to go there.”
G.o.dly Doctor felt he had finished saying his piece, so he sat behind the desk, picked up the book he hadn’t finish, and continued reading.
The two left the medical pavilion and walked on the street. Gu Shenwei waited for his Master to reveal his true face, but Tie Hanfeng didn’t say anything. He led his disciple to past the bridge straight to the southwall tavern.
It was the afternoon right now, the sky was not dark yet so there weren"t that many guests in the tavern. The two chose a table near the wall and sat facing each other. Tie Hanfeng ordered his usual and filled the table with colorful wine, but he didn’t drink, only sternly staring at his disciple instead. “Speak.”
“Say what?”
Gu Shenwei was being uncooperative at that moment. Lame Tie had discovered his secret and could ask him to do whatever he wanted now. But Gu Shenwei just didn’t want to surrender so quickly.
Tie Hanfeng’s eyes were as fierce as swords, his expression was the same as the time he ordered his disciple to kill someone for the first time. He was not an obsequious, red-faced man at the moment, neither was he a dead drunk, but a real killer with powerful, bone-chilling killing aura.
Gu Shenwei resisted for over a quarter of an hour. He just stared at his Master, but surrendered in the end like his previous a.s.sa.s.sination attempts. He told him everything that happened between him and Xue Niang. Of course, the version he used was the one he once confessed to the eighth young lord, he only added on that he was instilled with the Desolate Finger energy.
“You’re afraid that if eighth young lord knows your kung fu has a problem he"ll kill you?”
Gu Shenwei nodded.
Tie Hanfeng grunted. This disciple was not that stupid, Golden Roc Castle had many killers and would definitely not waste time and effort in training a disciple with a limited life and who could possibly be controlled by its enemy.
“You stay here.”
Tie Hanfeng stood up.
“Where’re you going?”
“Speak less and drink more.”
Tie Hanfeng left alone, leaving his disciple at a table occupied by all kinds of good wine.
It was getting dark, more and more guests arrived and the empty tavern became crowded. The aroma of wines wafted in the air. Happy laughter along with loud noises made Gu Shenwei’s head go numb.
He was seriously debating whether he should escape or not now.
Then what? Hide himself, moving around from place to place, die two years later without even seeing his enemies’ shadow?
Gu Shenwei abandoned this idea, he would stay. Since Tie Hanfeng didn’t bring him to the eighth young lord, it meant this cripple still needed his help with something. He would take full advantage of this and survive in the cracks, perhaps he could find a good opportunity to take revenge.
Tie Hanfeng came back at almost midnight, looking much more relaxed. Seeing the untouched wine on the table, he was confused. “Why didn’t you drink?”
“I decided not to drink anymore.”
Gu Shenwei told the truth. It felt good when the wine flowed down his throat, but it would numb his hands and feet. He wanted to be the best killer, so would never drink wine again.
Tie Hanfeng didn’t think so, but he didn’t argue further, he drunk like a fish. The guests he was familiar with might not have come or had already left, so he called the tavern keeper and waiters to drink with him. They drank until the fourth night.w.a.tch period, when the tavern stopped serving wine as only drunkards were left.
From start to finish, he talked no more of his disciple’s internal energy.
The more he waited, the more confused Gu Shenwei became. Seeing his Master being almost drunk, he couldn’t help but ask, “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to drink,” said Tie Hanfeng with a smile, obviously having a great time.
“No, you know my secret now, you can ask me to do anything.”
“Take your pants off, do you want to?”
Gu Shenwei tried to draw his sabre, but found that his waist was empty. He always forgot that he handed in his weapon at the city"s North gate, and that the tavern prohibited patrons from carrying swords.
“Haha, just kidding, I’m not interested in you. Don"t look so cold all the time, even a killer has to be sociable and interact with others. If you don’t understand the world of people"s emotions, how do you know how to kill them?”
Gu Shenwei was on guard, feeling more and more that his Master was an insidious person whom"s final demand would be extremely severe.
Tie Hanfeng staggered to his feet. “You’re too proud, too proud to be someone who wants to be a killer. Do I want you to do something? Haha, you should ask yourself what you can do for me. Kid, you’re useless to me. Sit here, wait, I’ll go find a warm woman, hold her to sleep.”
Once again, Tie Hanfeng left his disciple alone and walked away.
Gu Shenwei stayed by the table full of leftover wine, unable to understand it at all. Was it possible that the crisis was really over? How come Tie Hanfeng didn’t ask him for anything?
Although Gu Shenwei didn’t want to admit it, his hanging heart gradually relaxed. Not long after, he couldn’t bear the invasion of sleepiness and fell asleep on the table.
It was an uncomfortable sleep. Tie Hafeng’s changing face always appeared in front of him, coming closer and closer. In the end, he even stuck out his hand, wanting to mess up his hair. Gu Shenwei angrily grabbed his Master’s wrist and tried to break it with all his strength.
From opposite Gu Shenwei came a suppressed scream.
Gu Shenwei suddenly awakened and sat up. He found himself holding a pale-faced teenager’s wrist who was in pain. The teenager was afraid of attracting others’ attention and didn’t dare yell out.
Gu Shenwei loosened his grip, “What’re you doing here, eating melon again?”
He had seen this teenager once before. This teenager was the only witness when he had killed the horse-faced man under his Master"s orders. He had even pointed at Gu Shenwei to throw the corpse into the wilds.
The teenager rubbed his wrist, revealing a ingratiating smile. Gu Shenwei noticed again that, although this teenager had a small body, his eyes were as mature and cunning as grown-ups.
“Are you a killer of the castle?”
Gu Shenwei didn’t reply.
“I know you are, I saw you kill someone, it was like drifting clouds and flowing water, I was stunned.”
“Say what you want.”
“Hey hey, I saw you yesterday, but wasn’t able to find a chance to meet you until tonight. What I want to say is, you’re so formidable. We’re almost at the same age, but even a hundred of me aren"t your match.”
Gu Shenwei looked at the teenager coldly, strongly disliking the roundabout way he talked in.
“Right, I’m surnamed Xu, Xu Yi. I’m 14 years old, call me Xu Xiaoyi, or XiaoYi, may I ask how I should address you?”
“You don’t need to know my name.”
Xu Xiaoyi gave a thumbs up, “Wow, you’re really a killer, a nameless killer. Leave no trace, kill with one strike, and disappear at once. Unlike like me, I grew up in Southern Jade City. Everyone knows me, it’s so hard to conceal my ident.i.ty.”
“Go away,” Gu Shenwei ordered, it was meaningless to deal with such a street rat.
“I haven’t said why I"ve come to you.”
Gu Shenwei’s heart thumped, he was suspicious of whether this kid was sent by his Master as a probe or not. “Speak.”
Xu Xiaoyi looked around, other than the snoring drunks, there wasn"t another sober person. He used his quietest voice and said, “I"ll hire you to kill someone.”